Three Days in Amsterdam

And the only red lights were traffic signals

A few weeks ago, I was reading through a Reddit thread about Amsterdam’s crackdown on party tourism. One comment stood out: “They spent decades building a tourism industry off the back of drugs and sex workers and wonder why so many people are there looking for drugs and sex workers?”

Excuse me?

Amsterdam tourism built around pot and prostitutes? I don’t think so.

Yes, it’s well known that both prostitution and cannabis are legal there. And, over time, that has attracted a large subset of tourists who only see the Dutch capital as a place to party. They remind me of the people who think New Orleans’ French Quarter is representative of the entire city.

In reality, Amsterdam has been a renowned center for culture, art, commerce, and religious tolerance for hundreds of years.

Beginning in the 16th century, it welcomed Jewish refugees who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal and also allowed a place for Catholics to worship when it was illegal in the largely Protestant kingdom to hold Mas…