Economics
Top 10 Unlikely Marijuana Vacations
1. Kingston, Jamaica
When cold weather arrives, or any time you want a ganja vacation, you probably want to go to Jamaica. Land of Bob Marley, with marijuana growing an agricultural livelihood for many islanders, cannabis lovers across the world flock to the Caribbean to get reggae ganja fun in the sun.
Jamaica has a lot going for it, and you find lots to love there, but it’s also a third world country plagued by poverty, income inequality and crime. If you want a safe and fun Jamaican ganja vacation, you need to read this carefully.
I’ve visited Jamaica three times and I’m giving you a very stern look at Jamaica as a vacation destination. Here’s the first thing to remember: you can’t just go anywhere and do anything you want in Jamaica as if you were on a tourist trip to Holland.
Even though marijuana is illegal on the island, lots of people will try to sell you ganja there. You get offered ganja deals before you even got out of the airport, by taxi drivers who pick you up from the airport, by street vendors, and even by children and police officers.
2. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hundreds of coffee shops where marijuana and hashish can be purchased over the counter and consumer. Amsterdam is the home of the annual High Times Cannabis Cup, which is held each November and boasts incredible museums and parks.
Info about 2012 ban:
A law that would have banned foreigners from using Amsterdam’s famous cannabis cafes has been dropped by the city’s mayor mere months after the Netherlands first began enforcing the restriction.
The tourist drug ban went into effect in three of the country’s southern provinces earlier this year and was due to expand to the rest of the country — including Amsterdam — by 2013, the Associated Press reported.
Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said that Amsterdam’s 220 coffee shops, where marijuana and hashish are openly sold and consumed, will remain open to all next year.
3. Toronto, Canada
“Canada’s Eastern regions boast some excellent marijuana and many businesses, especially those located on Yonge St. Although it is against the law to possess marijuana in Canada, enforcement agencies are primarily focused on individuals guilty of trafficking the drug. Marijuana users in Toronto report that police officers are lenient to those who are discreet.
But just as Colorado and Washington loosened up, Canada tightened its drug laws in November of 2012.
On the very same day as the U.S. election, the Canadian federal Safe Streets and Communities Act went into effect, producing a mandatory minimum penalty for marijuana possession and production: one year in jail for more than 3 kg, and six months for between six and 200 plants.
Carl Valle, Press Secretary for Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that these drugs are illegal because of the harmful effect they have on users and on society, including violent crimes. The government therefore has no interest in seeing any of these drugs legalized or to make them more easily available to youth.
A new poll done in 2012 showed that a majority of Canadians support loosening the country’s marijuana laws, a stance that’s starkly out of sync with the federal government’s pot policy.
According to the poll, released Tuesday by Toronto’s Forum Research, 65 per cent of Canadians favor either the legalization and taxation of the drug, or decriminalizing it in small amounts.
Although the laws have been tightened, the streets and some of the cafes are still puffing.
4. Manama, Bahrain
If you get caught you will probably spend two to four weeks in prison and will be interrogated harshly and then released on bail until your case goes to court. the judge might sentence you to six months in prison minimum and 10 years maximum – so be careful
There is no marijuana in Bahrain available but high quality hashish is always an option. It is hard to buy it off the streets with no connections but you could always try going to bars in exhibition road. Everybody smokes hash in Bahrain but are really serious about keeping it quiet.
Prices do differ with every dealer in Bahrain and dealers don’t sell the drug in grams. You could get a piece as big as your thumb for 20 bd – $50.
5. Barcelona, Spain
Smoking in public in Spain isn’t 100 percent tolerated, but you can possess up to 40 grams legally and major cannabis events such as Spannabis are the talk of town.
There are many major cannabis seed breeders based there, so it certainly has its place. In my experience, as long as you don’t make a scene you can smoke it pretty much anywhere.
Barcelona is a stunning city to visit, Guadi architecture is everywhere and nice beaches!
6. Prague, Czech Republic
It was a big surprise for me to find out that the Czech Republic is such a cannabis-tolerant country. You can keep up to five plants in your home and carry up to 15 grams.
Liberal criminal justice bills have made it one of the most tolerant places in Europe and Prague, in particular, is a beautiful city to visit.
7. Lima, Peru
In the Peruvian Amazon’s breathtaking rainforest are the Urarania, indigenous peoples whose religious sacrament includes a shaman-guided ayahuasca experience. Taking ayahuasca is not like taking LSD or mushrooms: It means handing your consciousness over to the “spirit vine,” and the fear-ridden path it lays out for you. Experiencing, or coming to terms with death, is often reported.
Ayahuasca is a psychedelic South American brew, often loosely defined as any combination of the psychedelic DMT with a MAOI, an enzyme inhibitor that allows DMT to be active when swallowed. Adding P. viridis, or other DMT-containing plants, to the MAOI-rich B. caapi vine can induce a profound hallucinogenic journey often accompanied by vomiting, aka “the purge.” Ayahuasca users report two to six hours of peak effects with one to eight hours of lingering effects, depending on dosage and the person.
The region is also famous for its mescaline-rich San Pedro cactus, which, once ingested, can completely alter the user’s reality. A mostly visual experience, the San Pedro is reported to change your perception of your environment, causing tunnel vision, chessboard or honeycomb sensations, and spirals. Four to eight hours after ingestion, the world’s patterns and lines return to their natural state.
Drug laws in Peru are pretty relaxed. Individuals are permitted to have up to 8 grams of cannabis in their possession as long as they do not possess any other drug.
8. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Argentina is the South American country with the highest rate of marijuana (7.2 percent) and cocaine (2.7 percent) use among 15- and 64-year-olds, according to the World Drug Report 2010 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Chile and Uruguay rank second and third in both categories
In Argentina, the pattern of drug use among high school students generally begins with alcohol, a gateway drug that leads to marijuana and then to cocaine, said Landini, whose institution treats about 150 addicts annually. The average age of his patients is 23.
One gram (0.03 ounces) of cocaine on the local black market costs about $9, whereas one gram of marijuana (0.03 ounces) goes for about $1, according to the National Gendarmerie of Argentina.
9. Seattle, USA
Now that marijuana is legal in Washington, the state is going to start collecting taxes on the new drug. The state hopes to collect some $500 million a year from marijuana users. But there is one catch: marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That does not prevent people from flocking the streets trying to smoke some weed – legally that is. Although it is legal to buy it, it is still not legal to sell it in Washington.
10. Berlin, Germany
The possession of marijuana for personal use in Berlin is tolerated, as long as the amount does not exceed a quantity of 10 grams. Nonetheless, I would not suggest traveling around the city with 10 one gram baggies in your pocket.
As long as you don’t indulge in the herb in public, you have nothing to worry about. If you do decide to, you still have almost nothing to worry about. Just don’t go making a big deal out of it and you’ll be fine.
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