Mellow Yellow coffeeshop
Mellow Yellow is the oldest cannabis coffee shop in Amsterdam. The coffee shop was founded in 1972 by Wernard Bruinin in Weesperzijde, Amsterdam, on the premises of a former bakery. The shop is named after "Mellow Yellow", a song by Donovan which describes the singer trying to become intoxicated through smoking the peel of banana.[1]
The intent of the shop is to sell cannabis, despite this being illegal at the time of its creation.[1] Sales were originally disguised by drug dealers seated at the bar posing as customers. Mellow Yellow was unsuccessfully raided by police several times. Unpackaged cannabis, bought from wholesalers including drug lord Klaas Bruinsma, was hidden behind secret doors and shutters.
In 1975, the concept was adopted by a shop named Russia situated on the same street as Mellow Yellow and was followed by another coffee shop called The Bulldog. Now there are 223[2] such coffee shops in Amsterdam.
Bruining also runs Stichting Mediwiet (Medi Cannabis Foundation), a group that supports the legalization of growing marijuana for medicinal uses.
Citations
- 1 2 "De eerste coffeeshop ter wereld" (in Dutch). November 2008. Retrieved December 2012. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "FAQ Coffeeshops in Amsterdam". I Amsterdam. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
References
- "Hasj" (in Dutch). Geschiedenis 24.
- Schoof, Rob (1 May 2008). "De achterdeur van de coffeeshop" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad.
- van Schaik, Nol (7 October 2009). "Dutch Cannabis Coffeeshop History".