Mellow Yellow coffeeshop Mellow Yellow coffeeshop Mellow Yellow was the oldest cannabis coffee shop in Amsterdam, prior to its closure at the start of 2017. The coffee shop was founded in 1972 by Wernard Bruinin in Weesperzijde, Amsterdam, on the premises of a former bakery. The shop is named after "Mellow Yellow", a song by Donovan which describes the singer trying to become intoxicated through smoking the peel of banana. The intent of the shop is to sell cannabis, despite this being illegal at the time of its creation. Sales were originally disguised by drug dealers seated at the bar posing as customers.
Legal history of cannabis in the United States 1972 report to the President and Congress that the societal harms caused by cannabis were limited, and recommended removal of criminal penalties for possession and distribution of small amounts of the drug. While President Nixon was furious with the commission and publicly rejected its findings, supporters of reform frequently cited the report's recommendations to build support for decriminalization in subsequent years. In 1972, California became the first state to vote on a ballot measure attempting to legalize cannabis. Proposition 19 – the California Marijuana Initiative – sought to legalize the use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis, but did not allow