The truth about coffee shops and the red-light district in Amsterdam.
Anybody to visit Amsterdam is likely to be acquainted with the red-light district and has heard of the numerous legalized marijuana-selling coffee houses. Which can appear rather daunting for the new travellers as even though many have heard of them, they are rather unclear of how they function. The only thing that any person should remember is. While most activities like prostitution, for example, are legal in the red light and smoking of weed is permissible in some locations of several coffee shops, not all people in these places indulge in these practices.
Many attractions are located in red-light district and therefore is more preferable for going out especially for those wanting to take alcoholic drinks. It is however important to be careful because not everyone in the area is into the act of going around being a prostitute. Well, I must admit that the majority of the people are not, or if you decide to take a walk around the area even during the night, you will realize how harmless the area can be.
The same situation is with the coffee shops and stores: some of them permit smoking within the working area while others do not allow it at all. Now this is not always very apparent as to which kind you shall end up waltzing into, so to ensure this dilemma is solved, the shops that trade in the marijuana have a sticker/sign.
It is not very large, however, it can be located mostly near the entrance door. It is white on the top half and green on the bottom half and makes the people understand if one can get a little more than coffee inside. Nevertheless, the shops that offer something in additions to the drugs do not solely exist as a pharmacy. Some of them have smoking zones while other may be simply place where one can come to have simple tea or coffee and some pastry. The overall point is these two grossly over-hyped areas of Amsterdam call for all types of people and in no way are you going to conform to not indulge in the actions of the area. Just approach them with the spirit of live and let live there are so many persons that you would come across and some areas that may seem a bit dangerous for the tourists to explore are actually the best.
