Legalising cannabis and prostitution may be one of the most contraversial issues of my time. Even the re-classification of cannabis is met by high media attention. So, during a trip to Amsterdam to extend my 'wordly' outlook i was fascinated to see just how different attitudes can be only a fifty minute flight away.
I endorse neither of these things - i'm not a sixty's child and i prefer free love to paid love - but the system in the Netherlands truly shocked me.
As everyone does, i visited the area with much expectation and a mental image of what i might find. Though what i saw dispelled all of my naive ideas.
There will always be controversy about just how liberal one country can be, without the 'decline of society'... but the normality with which drugs and prostitution are treated gave the city a very different feel from the UK.
And normality makes me at least, loose interest.
Regular health checks for women working as prostitutes; the hiring out of legitimate venues for their business purposes; and the ability of women to call the police when they're in trouble, come together to give a very different feel to the same industry back home; where seedy streets play host to skinny girls desperate to earn money to feed their drug habits.
As i sat eating my continental breakfast on the last day - watching 'seed hungry' tourists (myself included) make their way towards the red light district, a sense of adventure on their faces, i felt a pang of annoyance. Why did they think it was going to be anything other than normal in Amsterdam?
WE, just make up a constant stream of tourists that come and go. And in the mean time, the country can look after those who'd be in danger, and legitimise a business that will always occur whether we like it or not...
