Amsterdam: Hold the Tobacco, Pass the Joint

July 1, 2008 — -- A Dutch ban on cigarette smoking in public places takes effect today, but people still will be able to light up in the country's cafes — as long as they are smoking pot.

The nationwide tobacco ban is intended to protect workers from secondhand smoke in bars, cafes and restaurants.

Even the country's 700-plus coffee shops, where marijuana smoking is tolerated, will be subject to the no-tobacco rule.

"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told Dutch TV station NOS. "People would not have understood that."

So, does that mean you can still sit in a cafe and smoke a joint?

"In theory, yes," Dutch Health Minister Ab Klink told lawmakers earlier this year. "Smoking can continue at the shops for as long as no tobacco is in the mix."

He added, "Those who prefer to accent their marijuana high with a bit of tobacco as well will have to go outside or to separate tobacco-smoking rooms. The alternative will be going-tobacco free, as the ban seeks, by smoking marijuana alone."

Coffee shop owners have been unsuccessful arguing against the no-tobacco ban, trying desperately to get special provisions approved. They will be held responsible and fined if a customer is caught smoking a tobacco-based joint.

De Tweede Kamer, a small, well-known coffee shop in the heart of Amsterdam, has been in business for more than 24 years and is frequented on most days by 250 to 300 customers.

Jason den Enting, the manager, told ABC News in a telephone interview, "This is absurd. Our customers come here to socialize and smoke. Smoking has to be allowed in a coffee shop, it's a cultural thing."

He explains that customers must be 18 years old, adding, "At age 18, people are old enough to vote and they are mature enough to go to war for our country, so why are they not deemed mature enough to decide themselves whether or not they want to smoke?"