Netherlands, the land of the extremely free

Amsterdam. For some it's just a beautiful city, full of canals, rich culture and bicycles. To the rest of the world it is the capital of techno, marijuana, and prostitution.
When visiting Amsterdam, the traveler should know the big difference between a Café and a Coffee Shop. Coffee Shops do sell coffee, but that is not the reason you would go there. Marijuana is the reason. Cakes, brownies, muffins, milkshakes; all packed with the green devil. But the difference is easy to spot, because the location does matter. Unlike Coffee Shops, Cafés are not located near the brothels, which makes sense, since I personally would never consume food or drink next to brothel, unless I was high.
Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal and has been taxed ever since 1996. The Red Light District is one of the most well known in the world, along the ones in Paris and Hamburg. It is also one of the safest parts in Amsterdam, as clusters of policemen, and private bodyguards employed by the girls themselves are always on duty. I consider it smart to have a system that can be taxed and regulated. A system, where rules exist and prostitutes are better treated and kept out of the streets (Unlike in Barcelona, where during nighttime the prostitutes seem like workers at the mall, who just try to sell their product to everyone who walks by).
In fact the city of Amsterdam is about to regulating them with a severe hand. As stated in an Associated Press news article on Yahoo News, Amsterdam is planning to shut down 20% of the Coffee Shops and many dodgy brothels too. Amsterdam wants to be a city of tolerance, not the haven of illegal underground business. When the new restrictions come into action, prostitution will only be allowed in two marked areas. Therefore if a parent wants to avoid the awkward questions from his/her child, he/she can easily just avoid those two areas.
On other areas, at least when I was there, nothing seemed to be anyway unordinary. It is not like everyone uses marijuana and everyone uses the services of prostitutes. Many couples come for the Red Light excitement and the cultural experience. For couples I would personally suggest the sex museum. They are culture, exciting and truly funny and open-minded.
Red Light District is a big part of Amsterdam culturally, but if you plan on going there, make it the last checkpoint of your tour in Amsterdam, because I don't want you to get the wrong image of Netherlands and their wonderful people.

image: marcelgermain. "Night life." Flickr. 11 Dec, 2007