You are probably aware that Amsterdam has about 150 “coffee shops” where anyone over 18 can walk in an legally buy weed or hash, and then smoke it right there. Well, in July, 2008, the city joined the ‘no-smoking club,’ and that has made for a very unusual situation in these coffeeshops (the Dutch prefer to combine nouns). It’s still true that most Europeans prefer to smoke their cannabis along with some tobacco, but now that is illegal except in glassed-in sections of certain shops.
So think about it. A cop could walk into a coffeeshop full of stoners, and the one guy who mixed some tobacco in with his stash is the one breaking the law. Actually, it’s the shops and not the patrons who stand to get in trouble, but they do take this seriously. Most of the larger coffeeshops have installed a glass wall that separates most of the shop from where the employees hang out in front, so it’s not difficult to find a place to smoke anything you fancy. But still, it’s quite a novelty that weed is perfectly legal while tobacco isn’t.