In a maddening show of spineless backsliding after 35 years of tolerance, the conservative government of the Netherlands seems hellbent on turning the clock back to a darker time in Dutch history -- a time when the cannabis trade was driven underground and people had to access the black market for marijuana.

And, of course, in our interconnected world, such a failure of leadership would reverberate internationally, according to expert observers.

"If tolerance ends or gets limited in the Netherlands, then politicians all over the world will say things like 'Tolerance failed in Holland,' and use that as an excuse to enforce their anti-cannabis propaganda, opinions and laws," well-known Dutch cannabis blogger Peter Lunk told Toke of the Town.