I knew marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, but does their religion actually encourage it? I remember my science teacher telling me this, and instantly I knew every pothead in my class was thinkin, “Damn, I’m goin’ to the Netherlands.” Do they smoke weed religiously?
I think you’ve had enough, dude.
I believe the Reformed Church is still the state religion there. I doubt very much that such a Calvinist body would be advocating consumption of marijuana.
Doubtless Coldfire or Gem or one of our other good lowland types can enlighten us more soon.
“Their religion”? The Netherlands is a European country with much the same religious background as any other, which is to say it’s culturally Christian, but the state and church are separate, and its residents are free to practice the religion of their choice.
The Tiburg University site says that about two-thirds of the population is Catholic or Protestant and that there are approximately 800,000 Muslims in the country. None of those three religions advocates the recreational use of any drug. Marijuana is indeed legal in the Netherlands. This page, from the “Official Holland” site, has a link that outlines the Dutch policy on drugs, which is probably less encouraging toward their use than you might imagine.
You may be thinking of Jamaica and Rastafarianism. (Holland … West Indies … easy mistake to make.)
Smoking of Ganja is permitted by the religion.
It’s more than permitted, it’s a sacrament.
RASTAFARIAN = A SAFARI RANT > 1992 GMC Safari w/Dutch-door option > Live and let die is new Dutch religion
Coincidence?.. well maybe it is.
Am I the only one who thinks that this is just a vocabulary problem? If the OP’s science teacher said “The Dutch smoke weed religiously”, “religiously” probably has the sense of “frequently, faithfully, and conscientiously.”
They also worship women who stand naked in windows. I believe they are help in the fertilization of tulips. :rolleyes:
Don’t the high priests have to cut an ear off to show humility or something?
It is my recollection that they smoke pot to help alleviate the pain of walking around in stiff wooden shoes.
Technically speaking, unless things have changed, marijuana is not actually legal, but officially tolerated in certain venues like the famed coffeehouses. It is distributed on a small scale, but I don’t think it would be legal to set up a factory where they package joints like tobacco cigarettes.
Damn dutch reformed potheads. Nothing worse than a Calvinist with a joint.
Although most Dutchmen take the (very sensible) attitude that marijuana should be legal, few indulge. According to the Lonely Planet I read on a trip to Holland, less than 5% of Dutch smoke weed. I believe Dutch generally associate smoking weed with slackness and other bad habits – your workaday Dutch dude considers it a tourist trip. Possession of cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs are not tolerated, although addicts are often treated as a medical rather than criminal problem (which also makes sense).
This pragmatism has caused problems more recently as some Dutch feel trapped by their reputation for tolerance. Certainly Holland now seems far less tolerant of immigrants than it has in the past. But your sciences teacher was either making a bad pun, using shock to get your attention for a change, or just misinformed.