cannabisnews.com: Netherlands Drug Policy May Be Too Hazy for U.S. Netherlands Drug Policy May Be Too Hazy for U.S. Posted by FoM on February 09, 2001 at 13:40:58 PT By Greg Palkot Source: Fox News How will President Bush wage his war on drugs, and who will he pick as his Drug Czar? As speculation in Washington continues, proponents of a more lenient approach to drug abuse point to some European countries where soft drugs are not illegal. But the results in the Netherlands, where smoking pot was legalized 25 years ago, are a bit "cloudy." And last month, the Belgian government moved to decriminalize the use of marijuana. Marijuana and hashish are sold in 1500 "coffee shops" around the Netherlands. Customers are allowed to buy up to 10 joints' worth of marijuana, at a cost of about $25. "Coffee shop" owner Michel Veling says the sale and the use of marijuana has become widely accepted. "It's no problem at all," he told Fox News, "No one even blinks an eye." In fact, "de-mystifying" the use of soft drugs, seen in the Netherlands as no more harmful than tobacco, was one of the main goals of the Dutch pot laws. The law was aimed at regulating the production and sale of the stuff to keep the crooks away, and ultimately to keep the Dutch away from more dangerous drugs. Proponents of the law believe that, by regulating the sale and the growing of cannabis (private citizens are allowed to cultivate a small number of plants at home), criminal elements could be removed from the picture. And if dealers are not widely active, the Dutch thinking goes, then exposure of the mainstream Dutch population to drugs will be reduced. "By decriminalizing marijuana," Harald Wychgel of the Netherlands Addiction Institute said, "you're in better control of the people who use it." But it's not quite as simple as that. Marijuana and hashish-selling coffee houses, according to the critics, are helping to turn the Netherlands into a "supermarket of drugs" for Europe. France claims most of the cocaine shipped there comes from the Netherlands. British police say much of their "ecstasy" is bought in the Netherlands. And some say the Dutch are not lenient just about marijuana. According to Frans Koopmans of "The Hope," a treatment center in Holland, "It's helped to create a situation where the use of mind-altering substances is a much more normal part of life for a lot of people." Still, studies show drug use in the Netherlands is no worse then many other countries, with fewer people jailed and police costs lower. Officials blame the Netherlands' historic role as a trading hub for the smuggling. But they do admit that going soft on pot hasn't solved the hard-drug problem there. "I don't deny there's a problem," Jur Verbeek, the Chief Inspector of the Rotterdam Police told Fox News, "we have a big problem." As for applications for the U.S., the Netherlands' situation might be too "special." But the Dutch on both sides of the drug issue fence do say that treating drug abuse as a sickness first and a crime second might be a good... "deal." Source: Fox NewsAuthor: Greg Palkot Published: Friday, February 9, 2001 Copyright: News Digital Media 2000. Contact: comments foxnews.com Website: http://www.foxnews.com/Related Articles:Amsterdam's Smokin' Coffee Shops http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8031.shtmlBlowing Dutchhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7979.shtmlThe Real Sin City of Amsterdam http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7113.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by Frank on February 11, 2001 at 19:11:43 PT Dutch Drug Policy Saves Lives "The Netherlands' reforms stressing public-health strategies to contain hard-drug abuse, coupled with tolerance for marijuana use by adults and teenagers, has produced a spectacular benefit: a 65 percent decline in heroin deaths since 1980 (while U.S. heroin death rates doubled)."The above is the result of Dutch policy. I now believe that the U.S. Government wants addiction and death or they would change their stance. What the U.S. Government says about the Dutch in not a lie but a damn lie... [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on February 11, 2001 at 06:40:51 PT: "Travel broadens the mind" The problem is, though, that most Americans don't travel.And in the case of our officials, when they do travel, they don't go to the places that provide the answers that they need to have. Instead, they go to functions, meet the dignitaries, make the same kind of speeches in differing languages, but it's always the same; the birds of a singular feather flock together.Case in point: About 2 or three years ago, Prez Klinton and his entourage visted Holland, and were very warmly greeted by the Dutch.I make no bones about it; I like the Dutch. As an American soldier 'over there' in the 1980's, when it was fashionable for many Europeans to be quite openly anti-American (the kind of hostility that starts with epithets and ends with fistfights and busted bottles), the Dutch always made me feel welcome. They are a gracious people, considerate hosts, and justly famed for their tolerance of the new or different.And how did the Klintons repay the Dutch for their boundless hospitality? They sent Barry to tell lies about the Dutch drug control policies and insult the intelligence of every Nederlander above the age of 4 years old. When I read that he had said that the Dutch murder rate was twice that of the US, because of their policies, I had to scramble to pick my jaw up off the floor before someone stepped on it. My astonishment at this gross effrontery was echoed, albeit much more reservedly, by the Dutch government itself. To insult such stalwart allies defies reason. This goes back to what I had said earlier in another posting about insularity; most pols are able to get away with lying over here, and few people call them out for it. The lies pols in the US tell about cannabis are perfect examples. So, without the slightest hesitation, without even thinking about it they do the same thing over there. Is it any wonder why so much of the foreign press is so scathingly critical of the caliber of people the US sends to represent it in foreign countries?Barry had an incredible opportunity to engage in true fact-finding when he was in Amsterdam. If he really and truly had had an open mind, (and was willing to earn his pay as a public servant) he could have walked into any coffeeshop, sat down, and struck up a conversation. As I said, the Dutch are far-and-away some of the most outgoing people I know; they'd have been tickled to give this American bigshot the lowdown on how the Dutch policy towards 'soft drugs' has been extraordinarily successful.Or perhaps he was afraid. But not of the American press for reporting that he was sitting in a coffeshop. After all, if the toadying press can forgive Klinton having a hotsie on the side giving him service 'above and beyond the call of duty', they can certainly excuse such a truly minor pecadillo of a bureacrat talking with stoners. I think it was more likely Barry was afraid that he might meet some Americans over there who would recognize him, and make a public spectacle of berating that jerk in front of 'furiners', regaling all and sundry with the various horrors American citizens are subjected to by his version of the Spanish Inquisition, a.k.a. The War on Drugs. Now that would have quite embarrassing, no? Yes, travel does indeed broaden the mind. Presupposing, of course, that you have a mind to broaden. The antis, in every word and deed, have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that the 'lights are on, but nobody's home.' [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Frank on February 10, 2001 at 04:42:53 PT Washington Lies About Coffee Shops and Holland “But it's not quite as simple as that. Marijuana and hashish-selling coffeehouses, according to the critics, are helping to turn the Netherlands into a "supermarket of drugs" for Europe.”This statement is a lie. The Dutch Government is realistic and its policies are based in science not in political ideology. I have traveled to Holland twice and I highly respect the Dutch Government. I can’t say that about the U.S. Government. The prohibitionist forces in America and the American Government always make up lies about the Dutch and their policies. The Dutch People want their children kept away from hard drugs and hard criminals and by instituting their marijuana and coffee shop policy they have done this. If an American “Drug Warrior” were to travel to Holland and enter a coffee shop they would have the disappointment of a lifetime. A Dutch coffee shop would not meet the psychological model of a “dope den” that the authorities are always spouting. All they would find were people sitting around smoking pot drinking tea and listing to music. The first time I entered a coffee shop I said to myself, is this what Washington is having such a fit about? One trip to Holland and you will know that the U.S. Government marijuana policy is nothing but a lie. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Robbie on February 10, 2001 at 00:50:00 PT Come again? Try reading this article again...then again. Seriously! This person subtly changes his words and skews the "message" towards decrying the Dutch position without actually saying that the Dutch "policy" is incorrect. And another thing: what's up with all these "quotations." I was actually thinking that he meant to say de-mystifying until I read "de-mystifying." And what's wrong with the word ecstasy? This is the name of MDMA but the writer might make you think that it's "ecstasy." Maybe it all depends on what your definition of "is" is.Man, I've always loved the Fox network. They've done some fun shows and great stuff, none much better than The Simpsons, and certainly nothing as far to the left. But the news organization that has grown out of the television network is right-wing down the line. It was G2's cousin that first called Florida for Georgie, and he was (probably still "is") the national news-desk editor for, guess what? Fox News.And people call the media left-wing... I think that's one of the greatest misperceptions of the American public. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Narcoleptic on February 09, 2001 at 17:24:38 PT Prohibition Policies and their effect on the NL This is a rather biased article about Dutch soft drug policy. . . their percentage of pot use is half that of the US and the crime rate is much lower. These facts have been recounted so many times I'm not going to repeat them. The only aspect of the Dutch drug policy that's problematic is that there is no official supply route for coffeeshops - they "tolerate" the fact that the producers must be let in teh back door as long as it's done discretely. This is only problematic, however, because of the rest of the world's draconian and unworkable prohibition policies. Much Dutch weed is grown "in house" but much of the hash and some of the cannabis are shipped from other countries. And the very nature of this shipment (given the laws of other countries and the unclear system of cannabis distribution in the Netherlands) is illegal . . and since the distribution networks worldwide for cannabis are linked to harder drugs, it's no surprise that harder drugs sometimes get smuggled in. What's the answer? If the Dutch fully legalized this wouldn't be a problem (they won't do it for fear of offending prohibitist nations in the European Union, most particularly France). And if the entire world adopted Dutch drug policy, hard drug distribution networks would have no remaining link to the worldwide cannabis trade. Keep in mind that Ecstacy is considered a "soft drug" by many in the Netherlands and is not cracked down on particularly hard - but if one is caught with hard drugs in the Netherlands the penalties are quick and severe. The US, and other prohibitionist powers, are the Dutch's problem - their drug policy is the most sensible in the world. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Duzt on February 09, 2001 at 14:32:55 PT They don't have a problem They always get off of the point. The Netherlands doesn't have a problem. France may have a problem, because they are fighting a losing war, Britain has problems because they are fighting a losing war, and the US?; don't get me started. All of the countries that have legalized cannabis for use and sell in small amounts have had much more success than those trying to punish for it's use. In China you can die for possession of drugs, in Amsterdam you can buy a joint in a coffeeshop, which society is doing better? The only truly free countries in this world will be the ones which end their drug wars completely. Whichever one does it first, my bags are packed..... [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by ANTIANTIDRUG on February 09, 2001 at 14:17:15 PT Bless my cotton underwear This weed is good. Could have sworn I've read something similar to what your saying Sudaca somewhere before. A couple of times for sure. Just can't put my finger on it. Attitudes have changed quite a lot over the last couple of years. Soon this guy will be smoking up in his local coffee shop laughing about this piece. Peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Sudaca on February 09, 2001 at 13:58:03 PT But it's not so simple as that Of course the fact that the Netherlands have historically been an incredibly important entry point to Europe through it's huge ports has little to do with smuggling coming through there.It's all the coffeeshop's fault because people get high and then they inject cocaine and smoke LSD and snort mushrooms and become depraved little monkeys. And of course since they have "a big problem" it's got to be worse than the US situation, of course they don't care cause it's a "deal"What the hell is up with this reporter? This is as intellectually dishonest an article as I've ever seen! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: