If you intend to use
the
Cannabis Coffeeshops
for
any reason,
even just for a drink,
and are 18
- 20 years old (or older,) but look young for your
age
you will need
some credible form of ID with your photograph and date of
birth on it.
More
Passport
! You would not believe the number of people who discover
they have left their Passport at home when checking in at
the Airport !! It must be valid for 6 months after you
depart
from Amsterdam.
A money belt of
some sort is a good idea to carry valuables like
Travellers Cheques, Credit Cards and any large amounts of
cash - get into the habit of carrying only small amounts
of cash in your outer pockets. Always use Hotel &
Room Safes where possible - especially
in Dormitory type accommodation.
See
"Your Safety" pages for more.
Minor first-aid
things like plasters for cuts & blisters, headache
pills etc. and prescription drugs.
Pharmacies/Drugstores
-"Apotheek" -
are rare in the centre of Amsterdam
24
hour Apotheek -
664211 & 6123766
If
you are on medication, you should maybe consult a
Doctor/Physician if you are considering flying or smoking
Cannabis.
Consider taking
some earplugs if you are a light sleeper, Amsterdam is
noisy most hours of the day and night, as might your
Hotel also be !!
Cameras:
Pocket sized ones are best for security &
convenience, take spare batteries - hard to find in the
central shops & stores.
Suitcase
Locks: The cheap little ones that come with suitcases are
a joke security wise. Buy
combination padlocks,
you have the bonus of having no keys to lose or
misplace.
(However,
as I have just found out, this may upset Customs.
"Checked in" my carefully zipped & locked case in at
Amsterdam, when I got it back in London, the lock was
missing and the case had been opened. Nothing
missing,
so I assume Amsterdam
Customs
were checking up on the Kilo of
TOBACCO
I had in it (perfectly
legally) or
maybe one of their sniffer
dogs just got a bit excited for no good reason other than
the case had rested in a Coffeeshop a few minutes while I
had a Coffee en-route to Central Station. However, I am
somewhat annoyed that they did not have the courtesy to
write a note explaining their actions.)
Please
see
"Your Safety" pages
re care of luggage, tickets etc
American
& English cigarettes are
expensive,
hand-rolling cigarettes is the norm in the Netherlands
and Tobacco is relatively
cheap:
€3.70, UK£2.46p/US$3,70
for
50
grams.
Non-EU citizens
are permitted to import
200 cigs
or 50
Cigars
or 250 g of
Tobacco without paying Excise Duty. No limits for EU
citizens.
Look for the
souvenir shops on Damrak
- the main street running from the railway station down
to the huge War memorial and Winter
Palace - with
cigars in the window -they sell cigarettes & tobacco
as well.
UK citizens are
able to buy English hand-rolling tobacco in some of these
shops - for the same price as the Dutch stuff.
A
recent Court case means UK Customs cannot confiscate your
Tobacco if you choose to bring a load back with you. They
can no longer automatically assume you are going to sell
it, though probably very large quantities may still
invite more than casual enquiries as to personal
use.
29
Oct 2002:
"Reasonable individual limit", previously 800 cigarettes
& 1 Kilo of tobacco raised to 3,200 & 3 Kilos
respectively. New legislation will abolish the burden of
proof on the individual to prove goods are for personal
use.
(
I think this is a cop-out, as it still goes against the
primary economic platform of the European Union of
free
and unfettered movement of
all
goods
between the member countries)
If you intend to use
the
Cannabis Coffeeshops
for
any reason,
even just for a drink,
and are 18
- 20 years old (or older,) but look young for your
age
you will need
some credible form of ID with your photograph and date of
birth on it.
More
664211 & 6123766
