One thing you must realise is that Amsterdam is a city with families.
Some of the citizens want to get rid of the drugs and prostitution, a lot more want to get rid of trafficking of unwilling women from other parts of the world into the sex industry there (and in other countries) and differentiate between the women who voluntarily work in the industry, and those who were forced into it. And paedophilia is NOT tolerated.
A lot of Dutch use marijuana privately, you may have a small amount in your possession for your own personal use. I suspect that more than half of the population have indulged at least once, but don't bother with it after a certain point.
Getting back to the families in Amsterdam: I get the feeling that most of the locals are happy enough to leave the drugs policy be; however, the real problem has always been the young foreign people coming into the city and getting off their heads in coffeeshops, and then stumbling around the city ... they have poor judgement, walk in front of bikes, cars, trams, buses, fall into canals, pee or have sex in public (not a popular thing with the families!), or just vomit and leave a mess around, on the streets, on someone's windowsill or in someone's doorway, or front garden. Too much dope impairs judgement, so rather than take away what's a very good source of income for many in Dutch cities, it might be better to limit the amount young visitors are permitted to buy and use, so they don't start being all anti-social.
Liberal ? Most have no use for drugs , prostitution or other vices and think it's sad that tourist come just for that , instead of enjoying the many cultural gems. . But the Dutch have a long history of being open-minded and not forcing their beliefs on others. That's one reason why the Pilgrims left England and came to the Netherlands for religious freedom ( and later to Plymouth , America ) . Just remember that there is still a lot of Calvinistic thinking in the Netherlands . So , are they liberal ? You decide what that means.
It varies from person to person, and on your definition of "liberal". The percentages don't differ much from those of the entire netherlands.
There's prostitution in every city, and a few dutch ones have street- and/or window-prostitutes.
Cannabis is tolerated all over the netherlands, but in the southern provinces it' s sold only to residents of the netherlands (this includes foreign students and guestworkers who live here).
90% of the dutch population does not use cannabis.
Nobody knows how many men make use of prostitutes, but the amount of customers is estimated at hundreds of thousands a week
You think weed and prostitution is liberal? Uh, no... being liberal implies that you are PROgressive.... not REGressive.
Being tolerant does not mean you turn a blind eye to moral depravity. It means youre one of the few who stand up for what is morally right and persecute those who do wrong, in the name of social progressiveness.
I don't think those vices would be allowed if the people there didn't allow them.
It takes the crowds' support/approval.
Plus I think the fumes probably end up surrounding quite a hefty radius.
Amsterdammers want to change the image of their city and wipe away the drugs and slags!
