Guidebook guru and pot promoterRick Steves just left the Netherlands, and he's got a substantial update on the marijuana scene in Amsterdam. First things first: Don't bother calling an ambulance after smoking too much because the EMTs will just tell you to walk it off!
But the big news is what's changed thanks to a new smoking ban--that prohibits indoor tobacco smoking but gives marijuana puffers a pass:
The Dutch, like the rest of Europe, mix their marijuana with tobacco. It might seem strange to an American, but if a coffeeshop is busted--it's busted for tobacco. Shops are mixing a kind of herb tea as a tobacco substitute for joints. Coffeeshops with a few outdoor seats have a huge advantage as their local customers can light up outside....
Many local smokers would rather get their pot to go than smoke it without tobacco at their neighborhood coffeeshop.
Back in May, we told you about scenic Sinaloa, one of the epicenter's of Mexico's current drug war, where "mafia clothes" are on sale and shrines to coke traffickers are high on the tourist agenda. And while much of the country is still peaceful, violence is on-going around the US-Mexico border--and spreading.
Adults should be allowed another option for relaxing and dealing with their anxiety when they fly. It is irrational and potentially dangerous policy to continue allowing passengers to get drunk before and during flights while prohibiting them from simply making the safer choice to use marijuana prior to boarding.
We can think of at least one travel guru would probably get behind this effort: Rick Steves. And come to think of it, SFO already has one pre-boarding pot lounge. Book those flights now, Snoop!
A British woman, who amazingly isn't Amy Winehouse, was arrested at Trondheim Airport in Norway wearing a large wig:
Concealing 2.2 pounds of cocaine glued to her head.
The bewigged coke carrier was coming off a flight from Copenhagen and had the drugs glued so firmly to her head that she had to be hospitalized to de-stick the contraband from her real hair, a local newspaper said.
Before Amy and others with outrageous dos get too excited about the coke-cloaking potential of their beehives, they should take note that this drug mule's downfall came directly as a result of her unusual hair. According to the AP, customs agents stopped the woman because they "suspected that she was wearing a wig."
The Brazillian government is cracking down on masked militias after an incident last month where several journalists were tortured for more than six hours by a gang of armed thugs wearing ninja hoods. The reporters had gone undercover in one of Rio de Janeiro's infamous favelas to investigate the "illegal economy" in the notorious slums.
Before he was gunned down by Colombian troops working with the US government, the infamous cocaine baron Pablo Escobar built Hacienda Napoles, a headquarters near his hometown of Medellin.
According to the BBC, Escobar's massive estate was
A fantasy land with concrete dinosaurs, a bullfighting ring and a private zoo that would have made Michael Jackson jealous, with giraffes, elephants, kangaroos and hippopotamuses.
Looks like shark attacks aren't the only thing travelers have to fear when visiting Mexico. The country has been caught in a deadly war with drug traffickers for nearly two years now.
Thousands of people have died and much of the country has descended into complete and utter lawlessness as drug cartels battle the police. The situation South of the Border has gotten so bad, that yesterday Mexican President Felipe Calderon appealed to the United States to do more to help him fight the drug gangs. He says the "American narcotics market is the biggest in the world" and fuels much of the violence and chaos in his country.
Traditional Mexican tourism may soon have to be replaced with drug war adventure trips. This week, Time gave us an idea of what that might look like with a "Postcard From Culiacan." Writer Ioan Grillo visited Sinaloa, the "cradle of Mexico's narco-trafficking industry" and found churches with shrines dedicated to drug dealers, ornamental opium poppies and stores advertising "Mafia clothes" that sell gold chains and alligator boots to young thugs. Sounds killer!
Federal agents arrested 96 people in a massive drug bust one year in the works, the DEA announced today. Two kilos of coke, 350 ecstasy pills, hash, meth, pistols and stacks of cash were seized. Of the nearly 100 people arrested, 75 were San Diego State University students, and you've gotta expect that this bust will cause prices to spike near campus. (Not that you should be doing drugs anyway!)
Arrest warrants were served at the SDSU Theta Chi house, among other places, which is, like, the worst possible PR nightmare we could imagine for a fraternity. The university, its president has announced, was involved in the investigation along with the DEA and police.
