It is a very twisted situation at the moment in the Netherlands as the public smoking ban has finally been implemented. Now that would not be a problem if it wasn’t for the certain drugs that remain legitimate to be smoked at the very same public places.

The Dutch government released a statement about the strict control, saying the violators will be fined with as much as 2400 euro (or £1900).

This causes controversy as it is still legal to use light drugs, such as cannabis in the famous coffee shops. By the law it is fine to smoke the pure cannabis joint, but mixing it with tobacco is forbidden.

Reportedly, if a government official encounters someone smoking a joint, he will be entitled to confiscate it and transfer it to the lab for further investigation on whether it contained any tobacco.

Other critics insist, such policy will encourage regular smokers to move onto stronger forms of drugs.

Despite that, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende says the coffee shops will have no exclusive rights and will be inspected as all the other public facilities.

"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops. People would not have understood that.", he said.

The moral of the story is whenever you think your country leads the world in terms of making silly laws, just think about the Netherlands...

By The W