Personal Perceptions of Amsterdam (different laws)

The differences that were to most strange to me were the ones that were the result of different laws. the legalization (or decriminalization) of prostitution and cannabis were something that i was obviously aware of, however what i found surprising was how they were integrated into the middle of the city and viewed as just other businesses, not dissimilar to how bars and strip clubs are looked at in the UK.

i found the The red light district very strange. surprisingly this was not because of the women standing in the windows, but rather because of how fast your normalize it and it is no longer strange. Due to the location of the red light district (The very centre of the city) it is hard to avoid it so you inevitably end up walking through it whilst going place to place. so for me, after the initial shock due to amount of times you walk through it, it is no longer surprising.

The ability to smoke cannabis in the bars was again a shock to me. Due to the UK’s law on drugs and cannabis, my preconception of it is something that you have to do behind closed doors or away from people to prevent the police from potentially arresting you. Because of this it took a while to get used to the fact that you could not only smoke it, but buy it from shops. it also took a while to used to the smoking rules, for example you can smoke cigarettes on the streets but not in the bars, whereas you can smoke cannabis in the bars but not on the streets.