The Culture Boat
So this is Dutch justice. Sort of… the boat on the right is The Culture Boat. It’s a “coffeeshop.” And when I say coffeeshop, I mean a place who’s product isn’t coffee, rather it’s… well, weed.
The Culture Boat is, without a doubt, the coffeeshop with the nicest atmosphere in Utrecht. It’s nicer than any I saw in Amsterdam as well. It’s just a boat, sitting in the middle of the canal, where one can go order up to 5 grams or a pre-rolled joint if that suits you. There’s lovely plants all around, and people sitting playing chess and smoking fat joints. Sometimes a person or two will even be studying, smoking the entire time of course.
Here’s the justice part. The building on the left, across the canal, is a women’s prison. I do have to say that I feel bad for the inmates. They can look across the canal and see a drug-peddling boat; it’s likely they can breathe the distinct smell wafting across the canal.
The cruelest fate I can imagine is being locked up there for some sort of drug offense. Barred in a prison with a view of The Culture Boat.
I understand that weed is tolerated there but someday you should explain how it is moved and grown... if you know. Because I'm pretty sure that part is illegal but it still happens enough to supply these shops and I don't understand how.
Well yeah, that is one of the great mysteries of The Netherlands. Growing small amounts of weed is tolerated, but growing a serious amount is illegal. Much of it is imported from Morrocco and so forth, but much of it is local-grown. Grow shops, however, are abundent and offer a wide selection of products.