Appearing on RTL Television in Amsterdam

Two RTL Television Reporters from Amsterdam (Thijs Roes & Laura Kemp) were traveling the U.S., and reporting on our national presidential election. They had been interviewing a Mormon family in Utah and were making their way to Denver for more coverage on the presidential campaign. So, they wanted to stop in Nederland, CO to compare Nederland (Holland) marijuana laws to Nederland (Colorado) laws.

It is not that unusual to get a call from someone from Amsterdam, because we do have a fair amount of people from the Netherlands that sign our guest book at Town Hall. We also get skiers from Austria, hikers from Switzerland and climbers from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

But we've become known for Marijuana after Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed our town, "Stonerville USA" and The New York Times published this article saying, "Marijuana has been mainstream in this outpost of the counterculture, 8,000 feet in the Rockies and an hour northwest of Denver, since the days of Bob Marley’s cigar-size 'spliffs' and the jokes of Cheech and Chong."

I had a great afternoon with the reporters, showed them around town, and introduced them to one of our Medical Marijuana dispensary owners.

So, here's the news story as it appeared in Amsterdam. If you don't speak Dutch, fast forward to about 10:30 minutes into the clip toward the end. My favorite part, is that 'Town Mayor' translates to 'Bürgermeister' in Dutch, bringing up fond childhood memories. I'm not sure about the Dutch translation on 'goddammit' but the reporters, just returned from interviewing Mormon royalty in Utah.

In Amsterdam, coffee shops sell it, anyone can buy, use, possess it, but there is no legal way for coffee shops to obtain it. Hence, the "Marijuana Fairy". They are having their own discussions as this NY Times Article explains.

To be genuinely frank, Medical Marijuana in our town has not had that much of an impact. Most people don't care one way or another. We do have some very talented cultivators, developing super high quality strains though.

Some local marijuana shops have fared well, and some have not. Their success rates have much less to do with producing a quality product, and much more to do with their skills to run a business in general – like the ability to stick to a budget, or submit payroll taxes on time.

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I assume that during the transition from the Prohibition of Alcohol in 1933, lots of bootleggers were making bathtub gin at the time. Eventually, those who were capable of running a business, emerged. Others came to the realization that it was easier (and less expensive), to buy it from someone who knows what they are doing.

The mystique of the marijuana industry is still apparent, and mired with legal questions at the moment, so there's no doubt we will continue talking about it. But, what would happen if we made toys illegal?


[Here is a Video Valediction] with the Buger Meister Meister Burger from the 1970 TV classic: Santa Clause Is Coming To Town. [What is a Video Valediction?]