Europe: Dutchman Busted for Smoking Tobacco in Cannabis Coffee House

In the first coffee shop bust since the Dutch imposed a ban on tobacco smoking in public places earlier this year, an unnamed 27-year-old Amsterdam man has been issued a fine for smoking a marijuana joint laced with tobacco, the Netherlands Information Service [5] reported. If he fails to pay the fine, his case will automatically advance to the courts, where it would be the first case to punish someone for illegally smoking a legal product in a legal business selling an illegal product. (Marijuana remains illegal under Dutch law, although the Dutch pragmatically regulate its sale.)

The Dutch banned smoking tobacco in bars, restaurants, and other public accommodations, including coffee shops, beginning July 1. The smoking of cannabis is not banned, but the quaint European habit of mixing tobacco into marijuana joints had observers earlier this year predicting that such an incident was inevitable.

Although Dutch police are not charged with enforcing the smoking ban -- it is the domain of the Food and Non-Food Authority (VWA) -- the man was issued a citation by a police officer. "If a police officer signals an infringement, he does not close his eyes to it," according to a police spokesman.