What’s on the ‘menu’ at these coffeeshops?

Amsterdam Coffeeshop “Menu”

A kid that I worked with last summer played for his high school soccer team, and the team went to Amsterdam for their end of the season tournament and workshops. He came back and there was not enough time in the day for all of his stories. I will definitely be writing an article about Amsterdam in the near future, as the place absolutely amazes me. I was reading an article in Frommer’s Guide today called “Smoking Coffee Shops” and I wanted to share a piece of it.

“Tourists often get confused about “smoking” coffeeshops and how they differ from “no-smoking” ones. Well, to begin with, smoking and no-smoking don’t refer to cigarettes—they refer to cannabis. Furthermore, the smoking shops are easily identified. Almost always, a smoking establishment is a “coffeeshop”—the Dutch spell it as one word. For coffee and a snack go to a “coffee shop”—two words…

Coffeeshops not only sell cannabis, frequently in the form of hashish, but also provide a place where patrons can sit and smoke it all day if they so choose.

In recent years Holland has given in to pressure from surrounding countries regarding its drug policy and has tightened the rules for the coffeeshops. You used to be allowed to buy and retain 30 grams of soft drugs for personal use; now, however, you can technically buy only five grams at a time. Each coffeeshop has a menu listing the different types of cannabis it sells. Hashish comes in two varieties: white and black. The black hash is usually more powerful. Bags cost between Dfl 10 and Dfl 25, depending on quality…”

Two of the most popular coffeeshops in Amsterdam are The Rookies and The Bulldog.