Amsterdam has a very liberal approach to many aspects of life. This does not mean that they are all dope smoking, long haired hippies; far from it in fact. The Dutch middle class can be very conservative when it comes to their personal lives, however when society comes across people in need, rather than locking up the addicts, for example, they are often offered drug rehab courses. Another example I read of recently was when the police came across some squatters. Although the laws on squatting in abandoned houses have been tightened up in the last couple of decades, in this instance, the squatters were simply given blankets, and a warm drink, as the house owner had not placed any sort of formal complaint, he just wanted to know who was there, and if anything untoward was going on. In some cases, after two or three years of squatting, squatters have (voluntarily) entered into a rent agreement with the owner, and everyone has been happy with the outcome. Compare this to other countries approach, and you can see why the Netherlands often is seen as a liberal country.