Is pot legal in Utrecht? If it is, where's the best place to purchase it?

Just as it is not legal in the US, "pot" as you put it, is not legal anywhere in the Netherlands, (contrary to extrenely popular belief) including Amsterdam, ok? Now go post your silly questions on the pothead boards!

Me, I advise you to go to www.channels.nl for your inquiry....
Pot is not "legal" but the sale of it in small quantities is permitted by licensed shops. I imagine you will find one with no problem once you arrive there - just sniff the air (or ask a local).

Yes, by all means confine your questions here to the important things like "What should I wear?" and recipe exchanges...those other, non-white bread issues are far too taxing for people like Spygirl to deal with.

Sweden Finland and Norway are just as strict with their marijuana laws as the United States.

And perhaps if you weren't smoking so much of it you would have learned how to spell it!

Well, he got "pot" right...

Intrepid-since all you "contribute" is idiotic sniping, you're hardly one to point the finger at anyone else-you've quite obviously got no travel information to share, that's for sure!

Again-if you want "pothead" information on where to find illegal controlled substances go find yourself one of the many "pothead" posts-where you'll be amongst your own!

Good one-ny traveler!

Just go to the police station, where they offer steep discounts on confiscated goods.

Drink the beer -- it's excellent and better for you.

Actually, there are more health risks associated with the consumption of alcohol than using cannabis.

And it's low-cal, too!

Would that be Amstel, or Amstel Light, Budman? -or perhaps, a nice light Chimay from across the border?

Dear Its_Me,
Utrecht has coffeeshops selling marijuana, as do many towns in the Netherlands. There is a coffeeshop forum on www.channels.nl. You should confine your actual smoking of cannabis goods to the coffeeshops - walking down the street toking on a big doober is considered bad etiquette.

Yes pot is sold over the counter in several Utrecht coffeeshops, including two big emporia right in the center of town, overlooking the canal. Whether pot is 'legal' or not in Holland is pure semantics as the 'law' allows for sale of cannabis in such LICENSED Tax-Paying places though the law says it is illegal for the coffeeshop to bring it in the backdoor and illegal for you to take it out the front door (though possession of a small amount of cannabis has been decriminalize), but inside it's legal. I was in the Amsterdan Historical Museum last September and they had an exhibit saying that 'sale of cannabis was made LEGAL, that's their word, the word of a city of Amsterdam institution, in the 1990s and went on to use the backdoor, front door conundrum. Anyone who quibbles by saying it's not legal is just trying to obscure the fact that you can legally buy pot or hash in shops that have been licensed by the government to sell it. Whether it will remain legal as such depends on how far the current right-center government goes in plans to make coffeeshops off limits to non-Dutch residents, or even eliminate shops all together. Already, according to the exhibit in the Amsterdam Historical Museum, the government (the law i believe actually says that local governments can chose not to enforce the pot laws, so there is no national legalization) is refusing to grant any new licenses and when shops go out of business the number goes down. they point to Amsterdam once having over 1,000 such shops and the number is now down to about half of that. So the number of shops in each city can vary though i've never seen one without any. The most famous example of a Dutch coffeeshop was the one near the German border that, for German convenience had a drive-through service.
Enjoy.

Clearly you will be much better off:

Asking on a more sympathetic BB (i suggest Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree), a guidebook such as Let's Go or Rough Guides, in a local tavern or by keeping your eyes open once you arrive... any of those will get you better answers with less snooty attitude than most Fodorites are showing today!

Ditto to Suze's laments about judgmental folks who think it's a 'silly' post. I often read posts about someone esoterically raving about how some exoctic plate was preapred in some fine restaurant they've discovered and to me that is silly but i'd never express that in a rude comment as what's important to one person may be silly to another. There's been a ton more silly posts than yours, including some i've regretfully made in the heat of the moment. You have all the info you need from the few serious responses - it's a non-factor in finding and being able to legally, defactoally at least if not in the letter of the law, experience the unique Dutch coffeeshop experience.

Another good site for coffeeshop info is:

www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/

This is a travel forum, not a place to get information on how to perpetuate illegal acts involving controlled substances. How do you know the OP isn't a dealer or for that matter, a minor?

Fodors's should delete all posts requesting information on illegal substances.

The point is, (in case there are those who fail to see it) is that IT'S ILLEGAL. It's illegal in this country, in the Netherlands, and everywhere else as well.

This is a travel forum, not a place to get information on how to perpetuate illegal acts involving controlled substances. How do you know the OP isn't a dealer or for that matter, a minor? Would you want your 15yearold to be coming here and getting information that would contribute to the delinquency of a minor?

Fodors's should delete all posts requesting information on any type of illegal activity-would you point someone to where they could find some cocaine or heroin? judging from the responses here, probably!