FINE FOR SMOKING JOINTS IN PUBLIC

Rotterdam has decided that it will no longer be soft on people smoking joints in public, the Dutch newspaper Trouw reported last week. Anyone caught smoking marijuana in public will be fined EUR 50 as of November. Rotterdam Mayor Ivo Opstelten says: "Smoking joints in public was always forbidden, but up to now it has always been tolerated."

Since it has emerged how damaging marijuana can be, political tolerance for the habit has evaporated. Just under a year ago, the city council established that a large number of adolescents were "smoking away their teenage years". Coffee shops are not allowed within 250 meters from secondary schools. The Christian Union wants to go further and include primary schools in the legislation. (expatica.com)

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October 20, 2008