Do NOT look at them at all times, just ignore them and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Warning Or Danger Tips

When walking around the RLD or other crowded places like Leidseplein or Rembrandplein, you will definitely be approached by street dealers trying to sell you hard drugs. They will not stop you, or become pushy in any way, unless you give them the right to. What they do is walk around, observing the crowd and look for customers. When they see potential ones, they walk up to them, say "Coke" or "Extasy" on their ears and walk away. Especially at the RLD, things are much more obvious - most of the times they're just standing on the street sides talking to each other looking for victims. The dealing here is more frequent, and you could easily avoid it by walking in the middle of the street looking at everything else BUT the dealers.
The best advise, in all situations, is NOT to stare or look them at all. Just keep an eye for half-blooded people with funny hats. If you see people like this wandering around either on their own or in couples, chances are you're gonna hear the "coke" thing in a few seconds. The more you wander in the streets of Amsterdam, the sooner you'll learn to recognize them from a distance, which will help you avoid their glance.
And if someone tries to be pushy, just reply "No thanks", without interrupting your walk and of course without staring or looking at them. If you do, they'll think you're either interested in hard drugs or can be talked into buying, so they'll probably follow or stalk you for a while. In a case like that, just change your direction and walk away.

Sometimes you might come across a guy who'll kindly stop you in the middle of the street and tell you all about how he lost all his belongings, and whatever you can spare will help him get back home. In cases like that, where a stranger walks up to you and asks you if you have a minute, even if he looks like a tourist or a backpacker, chances are he's just looking for money to buy drugs. As in every similar case, remember that the money you'll give him have a chance to buy him his last dose...

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The most important thing is not to look like an easy target on the street. Get a small waist bag and wear it facing front, so that you can check on the zippers at all times. Put inside only the amount of money you estimate will get you through your wandering, a hard copy of your passport, your stripenkaart and maybe your credit card, if you really feel you need to have it on you at all times. If you have a digital camera, it will probaly fit inside the main pocket, at least mine did. Just make sure that the most valuable things are NOT in the front pocket, where an experienced hand could easily unzip a bag pocket without being noticed on a tram, in a street market or anywhere else in the city.

Do not use wallets and do not put money, important papers or credit cards inside unprotected open pockets and you should be fine. If you have to use pockets, use inside jacket pockets with buttons or zippers.

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