He described it as seemy, smelly and depressing, unfit for families. He didn't feel safe and said that for all of its promise it was not a place 'on the rise'. He also said that there were trainloads of high school kids (mostly from London) who came up for the party and were unruly and had the run of the place. He cut that part of his vacation short.
He's the last guy on earth I would have expected such comments from.
Then he must've stayed in a crappy, crappy place. I've been to Amsterdam several times and I haven't experienced anything remotely like what your ex-college roommate described.I don't mean to say that all of Amsterdam is the Garden of Eden---like all major cities, I'm sure it has its seedy areas. But your attempt to paint Amsterdam as some sort of war zone of a hell hole just because marijuana is decriminalized there is disingenuous. Amsterdam is cleaner, safer, friendlier, and more visually stunning than a good number of American cities.
As I said, this was the visceral reaction of someone who very much looked forward to going there. No one was more surprised than me that he despised the place.
And if this were only about marijuana I'd probably agree with you. But those promoting this 'cause' are in league- whether they know it or admit it or not- with a failed agenda that's at least 50 years old in this country.
See my post #354.