Amsterdam ‘No Toking’ Signs Being Pilfered
`If you can’t beat ’em … joint ’em? The City of Amsterdam has begun selling recently introduced “no toking” signs to prevent the official ones from being stolen as collector’s items, a spokesman said Friday.
The signs were created as part of an experimental ban on smoking marijuana on the street in “De Baarsjes,” one of the city’s poorer neighborhoods. The measure, which went into effect Feb. 1, was intended to reduce loitering and petty crime.
“On Wednesday we placed the first sign, and it was gone the next morning,” said Wim de Graaf. “We put up a new one Thursday, and it was taken the same night as well. That’s when the idea came to us to just sell them.”‘
