Amsterdam to Cut Down on Brothels, Marijuana

[Loyalist]

Dutch authorities have revealed details of their plans to clean up Amsterdam's famous red light district.

They say they will close half the city's brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in a bid to drive organised crime from the city centre.

Council officials gave the sex industry a warning a year ago that they were going to close some brothels.

The deputy mayor of Amsterdam says the plans will stop the city being a "free zone" for criminals.

Last year the city said it wanted to close one-third of the red light district's brothels, where scantily-clad prostitutes display themselves in shop windows.

But the new measures aim to reduce the number of sex "windows" from 482 to 243, a council spokesman said.

Amsterdam also wants to close half of the 76 marijuana shops in the city centre.

The city council says that some other businesses are also related to the decay of the city centre, including peep shows, sex shows, mini-supermarkets, phone and souvenir shops, and they will also be shut down.

It says there are indications that some red light businesses serve as a cover for organised crime, including drugs and the trafficking of women.

"Money laundering, extortion and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this," said Deputy Mayor Lodewijk Asscher.

"We can still have sex and drugs but in a way that shows the city is in control."

Officials have set aside some 39m euros (£33m) to bring back hotels, boutiques, galleries and restaurants to the area. (Continues)

SOURCE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7769199.stm)

Finally a much-needed step in the right direction. It's also interesting how, outside of the Netherlands, liberal-minded individuals often cite the relaxed attitudes of the Dutch towards drugs and the sex trade as having eliminated crime in the capital, when in reality, it has only served to increase such activity, and alienate those who still possess some sense of decency.

[Jamt]

SOURCE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7769199.stm)

Finally a much-needed step in the right direction. It's also interesting how, outside of the Netherlands, liberal-minded individuals often cite the relaxed attitudes of the Dutch towards drugs and the sex trade as having eliminated crime in the capital, when in reality, it has only served to increase such activity, and alienate those who still possess some sense of decency.



I am not in favor of anybody suffering.
I am not generally a fan of drugs, even soft drugs.
But you owe the explanation how laws could solve the problem.

[Absinthe]

I haven't been to the Netherlands so far, and I can't speak very confidently about what's going on there.

However, when a European city becomes known as the "drug & f**k capital" of the world, it becomes annoying for both the locals as well as the other Europeans who resent the rastafarian culture and the idea of sex-shows taking place in windows for everyone to see.
This draws bad attention and the wrong type of tourism. Whether this type of action is a step towards the right direction...it remains to be seen.

[Loyalist]

I am not in favor of anybody suffering.

I am not generally a fan of drugs, even soft drugs.

But you owe the explanation how laws could solve the problem.

Like Absinthe said, the city has become a gathering point for drug addicts and sex tourists. Organized crime, seeking to control these brothels and "coffee shops", has also reared its head like never before. Legitimate tourists no longer want to visit, and the inhabitants themselves have become disillusioned. Laws certainly won't remedy the problem, considering that there are drugs and prostitutes in every city on earth, but any reduction will help.

[Alison]

If it is going to put a stop to worse things (I do not consider prostitution to be bad) then it is a good thing, but like prohibition of alcohol in america, it will simply drive all those activities underground and make it harder to enforce the law.

[Groenewolf]

I life in the Netherlands. But when I go to Amsterdam I don't go to the streets where the brothels are. But to bad in some of the main streets there are some coffee-shops. But the fight against the brothels and the like in Amsterdam seems to be mainly thanks to a former prostitute.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Yeah I don't see how driving this stuff underground is supposed to reduce the influence of organized crime.

[Aragorn]

Iam wondering how many of you have vist Amsterdam for the last time, or have ever been there in the first place?

Laws wont solve any problem, and prostitution, like it or not, is a very existing reality of Amsterdam, as a harbour, capital and metropolitan.

[Absinthe]

Laws wont solve any problem, and prostitution, like it or not, is a very existing reality of Amsterdam, as a harbour, capital and metropolitan.

Laws are never able to solve everything at once, but aren't they a good start?

If not, do you have a better way of dealing with the issue in mind? :)

[TheGreatest]

There's more to do in Amsterdam than go window shopping and smoking the local crop. I didn't do either of this in Amsterdam. I went to museums, went along the rivers on boat, drunk beer with the friends and went to a few raves.



The sad thing is that most of these women are PIMPed into Brothels, or come from Central or Eastern Europe, because their families own debt to the mafia.
It's the same case in Israel and elsewhere, were women are locked up and have to sell themselves, often getting a meager share of the profits.

Amsterdam truly is a beautiful city. I enjoy all the old urban cities such as Amsterdam and Prague. But it doesn't seem right, when your walking to St. Aontonio's church, and you have to walk down ''African street" in order to get to it.

What is African street? Well it was mainly fat, African women shaking their behinds

[Aragorn]

Laws are never able to solve everything at once, but aren't they a good start?

If not, do you have a better way of dealing with the issue in mind? :)

No, I dont, atleast not through democratic system.