In other news, people are still being arrested for possessing marijuana. Why?
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I believe that the Netherlands still has treaty obligations that require them to intervene when someone is attempting to take weed across international borders.
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Cannabis possession is still illegal in the Netherlands but just not enforced for small amounts. The coffee shops fall into that category. But, they are in a legal grey area too since there is no place they can legally buy their supply (although the government has been trying to set up legal grow operations.) At least that’s how I understand it.
I think she’s lucky she was stopped in the Netherlands instead of the UK since I think the penalties there are harsher.
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Not sure about Customs penalties for importation but you have to push harder than possession to be charged (on a first offence and you admit it you will probably be warned).
The venue she was due to play at is new and has been facing all kinds of troubles, numerous gigs postponed.
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The problem was that she was exporting them. Nobody would’ve arrested anyone if they just lit one up in the Netherlands somewhere.
I’m pretty sure there are posters or leaflets around Amsterdam and Schiphol warning people about this exact thing, I suspect she just figured that she wouldn’t be checked because she’s famous.
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I don’t know how accurate or current the information from Pulp Fiction is but I’m surprised that no one else referenced it in the thread so far:
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I have a friend who worked as a personal assistant/house manager/sometime nanny for a billionaire for a year or two. She quit after a vacation to Thailand where her employer wanted her to carry his drugs for him. Her (accurate) calculus was that unemployment was greatly preferable to any chance of landing in a Thai prison.
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I think it’s true that it’s illegal for them to search you without probable cause (as it technically is in the US) - except by a customs officer at the border.
@timd - good to know. Essentially that’s what Minaj’s penalty was, plus a fine. I don’t really know because I’ve never been in that situation and IANAL but they might have been harsher on her because she was being a PITA. I wouldn’t exclude racism either.
For me it was a good teachable moment for my kids. Don’t ever, ever, ever go through customs with drugs. Laws, customs and penalties in other countries are different. Maybe it’s a lesson that sits deep after watch “Midnight Express” all those years ago.
Speaking of laws, this is a good example of the First Mover Disadvantage - the Netherlands was pretty progressive when they decriminalized cannabis in 1972 and allowed recreational use and coffee shops in 1976 but places like New Jersey (since I happen to have lived there before moving here) have surpassed them.
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For those of us who believe human beings should be free to travel borders in peace, I appreciate celebrities using their influence to put pressure on the issue. Not that I have any illusions that Nicky Minaj is intentionally sacrificing herself to the benefit of the rest of us. I still appreciate the so-called entitled nitwitocracy that agrees with my own ideal sense of personal libertry.
Kids these days.
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Just based on what little I’ve heard about her over the last decade or so part of this may well be because such minions have gotten fed up with her shit completely. She has a kind of public “mean girl” persona but the general consensus is that she is way more abusive than that to the point where people may want to break the association. It is probably hell to work with her and people may well be distancing themselves from her messes or leaving her to hang.
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In my business, pre-roll means something completely different. Actually, it doesn’t mean anything anymore.
Edit: This might be too esoteric, even for the bb crowd, so, this be pre-roll: Pre-Roll - PrintWiki
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I’ve never seen any reason to be impressed by Minaj’s intelligence or perspicacity. Quite the contrary, to be honest.
Ooh! Ooh! Someone book Minaj for a concert in Dubai next! What could possibly go wrong?
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That’s not what the topic is, though you are surely entitled to have your own opinions.
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Is…is that a thing?
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Yeah. Libertarians generally believe in open borders. Actual open borders, not the meaningless accusations that Republicans fling at Democrats. No such thing as an “illegal immigrant” in a libertarian society, because it’s not illegal to exist.
The New Yorker covered a book on the subject so us regular people don’t have to waste time and money on buying the actual book. The Case for Open Borders | The New Yorker
Just when you thought there were two sides to the issue, it turns out there’s always some weirdo waaay out in left field.
That said, I don’t know how it would actually work in reality. But I do appreciate the idea that people can move around peacefully without restriction. And that implies we focus on punishing actual crimes against society or individuals, and not to worry about yet-to-be-committed crimes that a hypothetical immigrant might do.
Reality slaps us in the face when we start to think about how people are kidnapped and taken to another jurisdiction in order to evade capture. Dealing with human trafficking would be difficult, if not impossible, without some sort of immigration policy. So we give up one perceived right, the right to move freely between countries, in exchange for a protection from the kinds of crimes that thrive on open borders.
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