cannabisnews.com: U.S. Urges Dutch to Toughen Drug Policy
U.S. Urges Dutch to Toughen Drug Policy
Posted by CN Staff on July 15, 2002 at 13:07:55 PT
By Donna Leinwand, USA Today
Source: USA Today
Amsterdam — The United States' anti-drug chief and a Dutch police commander were touring Amsterdam's red-light district recently when a man approached the U.S. law enforcement delegation. "Ecstasy? Viagra? Cocaina?" he whispered to a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman. The Dutch cop shrugged. DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson grimaced. Drug dealers are bold here. Drugs, especially the club drug Ecstasy, are cheap and plentiful. Dutch police mostly look the other way, preferring to focus on property crimes and public nuisances.
It's added up to a 100 million-pill-a-year problem for the USA, where authorities have become increasingly frustrated at how the Netherlands' laissez faire approach to drug enforcement has allowed Ecstasy labs to flourish here.The Netherlands has become the dominant supplier of the synthetic hallucinogenic drug that has exploded in popularity among U.S. teens and young adults. U.S. officials say about 80% of the 2 million Ecstasy pills flowing into the USA each week are manufactured on Dutch soil. U.S. Customs officers stationed in New York City-area airports, the most popular Ecstasy smuggling hubs, say they can make a bust every other day just by targeting passengers from flights that have passed through the Netherlands.The percentage of teens in the USA who use Ecstasy has more than doubled since 1995, a survey last year by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America showed. In a nationwide survey of 6,937 youths ages 12-18, 12% said they had used Ecstasy, up from 5% in 1995. It ranks behind only alcohol and marijuana in teen popularity.U.S. law enforcement officials want the Dutch to become less hospitable to Ecstasy's manufacturers and smugglers, but they have little power to make that happen. The Netherlands is a wealthy ally that cannot be pushed into tougher drug enforcement with the promise of U.S. aid or the threat of sanctions. Instead, U.S. officials are trying to politely persuade the Dutch to see it their way.Hutchinson, who visited the Netherlands for two days in June, hopes a more conservative Dutch parliament elected May 15 and increasing pressure from less permissive members of the European Union will prompt the Dutch to pursue dealers and manufacturers more aggressively.The Dutch have made significant busts since creating a synthetic-drug law enforcement division in 1997. In 2000, Dutch authorities dismantled 23 Ecstasy labs, the U.S. State Department says. Dutch officials say they intend to close more Ecstasy labs with five new anti-drug squads. The Dutch parliament recently approved a five-year, $35 million program aimed at reducing the Ecstasy supply, and the Dutch justice minister has suggested a registration system for pillmaking machines.U.S. officials appreciate the moves. But they say the Netherlands' underlying tolerance of drugs undermines the crackdowns. Penalties for dealing and manufacturing drugs are not stiff enough to discourage it, they say."They have a permissive drug policy that has a natural way of attracting those who want to engage in illegal behavior, and they have a weak law enforcement structure," Hutchinson says. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/07/15/usat-dutch-drugs.htmSource: USA Today (US)Author: Donna Leinwand, USA TodayPublished: July 15, 2002Copyright: 2002 USA Today, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Contact: editor usatoday.comWebsite: http://www.usatoday.com/Related Articles:Dutch Prepare Limits On Immigrants, Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13369.shtmlNew Government Presents Its Coalition Agreement http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13291.shtmlGo To Holland Before It's Too Latehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12873.shtmlDutch Voters Turn To The Righthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12865.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
Comment #27 posted by john wayne on July 16, 2002 at 15:59:48 PT
rumblings on the nark channel
unhappiness with "cokehead" George W. Bush is rampant in the DEA.culled from:http://members.aol.com/deawatch/daily.htm15 Jul 2002, 21:41 PST, 4th Edition
On November, 2000 every DEA Special Agent hoping to see our agency resurrect like a Phoenix from the flames voted for George
Walker Bush as our shining White Knight and Great White Hope. We looked upon George W. Bush as our Savior... one who
would restore the yesteryear of his father's bosses wife's "Just Say No" movement, and restore DEA to greatness. Uh... but that didn't happen. We're now well into Year Two of the Bush presidency and we still haven't seen any material
improvement in DEA. Why is that? Could it be that all the pre-election wires posted in DEA Watch by our most intelligent and perceptive agents warning us that a
former (alleged) cocaine user and admitted chronic alcoholic was just another corrupt politician bought and paid for by the drug
cartels acting through the "legitimate" corporate donors they now control. Why hasn't DEA been restored to its former greatness and success now that Clinton is long gone? The answer is simple: We
didn't replace Clinton for someone better. We replaced Clinton for someone worse. Illegal drug use in our president's own
family, think about it. Ongoing substance abuse by our president's own two daughters, think about it. Astronomical narcotic
movements happening in the state governed by the president's own brother, think about it. And we thought things would get better after we got rid of Bill Clinton and his wannabe successor... things haven't gotten better.
They've gotten worse. When was the last time we had the balls to investigate and arrest a family member of an elected official... think about it. And
when was the last time we saw a TV news spot with a three-by-twelve foot table overflowing with bundled drugs and uncountable
cash surrounded by DEA officials proclaiming the recent eradication of drug/terrorist cell... think about it. On November 6th, 2000 we didn't elect a "Great White Hope" for DEA and the drug war. All we elected was a continuation of the
Clinton years... elevated from the office of the local police chief to the corporate CEO. The drug dealers in 1982 who schemed to take over the anti-narcotics operations of the United States Justice Department were
better generals than we gave them credit for. They have funded an attack on our country unseen since December 7th, 1941. They
continue to control the hamstringing of DEA through their direct control of the Oval Office and the stooges appointed to make
DEA not a threat to international narcotics... but a joke! You are not working to eliminate drugs. All you are working for is your retirement benefits.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #26 posted by Hope on July 16, 2002 at 13:02:23 PT
"moronic "leaders""
BGreen asks(actually, I don't think he's "asking"...he's "ranting", truthfully and coherently), "Why do our moronic "leaders" feel that they can insult the rest of the world, while at the same time we're trying to get them to do what we want? Idiots!"There are a lot of possibilities, but probably, their very questionable diplomacy methodology derives from ignorance, disrespect, arrogance, conceit, and dangerously low I.Q.s., besides the, aforementioned, anal obsessivness bordering on, if not crossed into mental illness or dysfunction, added to the fact that they practice the easily recognizable techniques of the big-assed, small-minded bully. All together, that would probably add up to a pretty good case of "moronic stupidity".
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #25 posted by Hope on July 16, 2002 at 12:20:34 PT
"The antis are sick"
I agree completely, Kaptinemo. They, apparently, are so deceived by their own delusional motives that they probably fall into the realm of being seriously and permanently character disordered.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #24 posted by BGreen on July 16, 2002 at 12:15:43 PT
What the #$% are their problems?
they have a weak law enforcement structure," Hutchinson says.Why do our moronic "leaders" feel that they can insult the rest of the world, while at the same time we're trying to get them to do what we want? Idiots!I watched the Dutch police, and I was thoroughly impressed by their professionalism. They never brutalized anybody, even though I saw them take a guy off his bike rather forcefully. They took him away quickly, and I assume he had done something pretty bad. Two officers spent five minutes helping my wife and I find an address, which wouldn't be that strange if it wasn't the address of a cannabis related shop.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #23 posted by kaptinemo on July 16, 2002 at 11:42:52 PT:
There's that word, again...
U.S. officials appreciate the moves. But they say the Netherlands' underlying tolerance of drugs undermines the crackdowns. Penalties for dealing and manufacturing drugs are not stiff enough to discourage it, they say."They have a permissive drug policy that has a natural way of attracting those who want to engage in illegal behavior, and they have a weak law enforcement structure," Hutchinson says. (Emphasis mine -k.)You want a key to understanding antis? Here is the one that leads right to their shrivelled, blackened little hearts. That one word says it all...permissive.They hate it.But why? Why do they fulminate at the very sound of it? What makes them so rabid about it? What is it about the connotation of the word that drives them to apoplectic foam-spitting, screaming rages?It's because of jealousy...they wish they had the kind of 'permissive' childhoods that they accuse others of having enjoyed. What they scorn as 'permissive' they secretly wish they could indulge in...but they instead have been successfully programmed into 'parent pleasers'. The kind that project their co-dependency into all other relationships. Little Jeeves and Jeevettes to fetch and carry for Mummy and Daddy...who'd warm their fannies if they didn't, and right away.And now that they are adults, well...society should not allow anyone to experience what they themselves tacitly, fervently wish they could have...hence the repression.Antis are sick, plain and simple.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #22 posted by John Tyler on July 16, 2002 at 10:37:21 PT
Viagra
Bob Dole needs viagra and was on tv selling it. I think he made about a million $ for his efforts. Viagra also sponsors a stock car (really big bucks there).
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #21 posted by goneposthole on July 16, 2002 at 10:34:15 PT
Post to Post
Kind of like Coast to Coast in the cyber world.the end is nigh."Blackheaded and lookin' slick flyin' right along."-Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #20 posted by dddd on July 16, 2002 at 10:16:00 PT
..No Way Amanda...
..I am going to challenge your "last post" status......I will take the last post here,,,unless you want to try to outpost me,,in that case,,We will have to have a Post-off.....dddd
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #19 posted by Hope on July 16, 2002 at 10:08:21 PT
Thank you, goneposthole and BGreen.
I can't resist taking the risk of posting the dreaded last post, so that I can thank you guys for being so kind. Thank you for trying to help me avoid my dislike of being the last poster. I can't believe you guys even remember that. Thanks.One of my children lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years. They were happy to inform me that it was, indeed, as we had suspected, that the paranoia when smoking marijuana in the "land of the free" was non-existent in the Netherlands. "It isn't paranoia when they really are out to get you."
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #18 posted by dddd on July 16, 2002 at 09:10:56 PT
....Amsterdam....1976....Red Light.....
...dddd just got off the boat from England......I had a rail pass,and a backpack,,and it was the beginning of my 4 month solo museum tour of Europe....I happened to run into some really cool Christian people at the train station.They lived in this sort of commune,on a huge boat,,and they invited me to come join them for dinner that evening............Now,,4d was kindof a freelance greenhorn European wanderer at this point...I had landed in London about a week earlier,,and I had one of those "Europe on 5 bucks a day", books..I made my way to the Youth Hostel,,checked in,and told the guy who ran the hostel,that I was going to the Rijksmuseum.(sp?)..He asked if I had left any valuables on my bunk,,and recommended that I leave any valuables in the safe...He explained that there was a group of Morrocans,,and Mollucans staying there,,and that they were broke,and nothing was secure,unless it was in the safe.....He said that guests at the hostel had been robbed of their passports,and even their shoes!...I found this to be rather disturbing,,so I decided to leave my backpack with the guy,,and I made my way to the Rijksmuseum....I spent hours at the museum,marveling at the Flemish classics.I decided to go from the museum,to see my new friends on the boat for dinner.....There were about 30 People who lived on this boat,,and they were really cool people....I was somewhat intensely evangelistic at this time in my life,and Christians tend to have a mystical connection with fellow believers,,anyway,,,It was a wonderful evening of robust discussions, and I made alot of new friends...This guy named Jan,and his wife,owned the boat,,and they asked me where I was staying..I told them about the youth hostel,and they both sort of looked at each other with a weird look,,and invited me to stay the night on the boat..I thought this sounded great,because I was a bit nervous about the situation at the youth hostel,,so I accepted the invitation,,but I still had to go and retrieve my backpack from the hostel......................OK...4d is 20 years old.A couple of years back,he had transformed from a bitter ,cynical atheist,into a Believer,after he realized that God is there...prior to this..4d was a smokin',drinkin',maxo-stoner .I used to buy acid by the jar,and sell it,,anyway,the point I want to make,is that I was no spring chicken as far as being streetwise.,,so it was just around dusk when I made my way back up to the youth hostel to get my backpack. ..Yes,,I had heard that Amsterdam had a heavy red light district,,and yes,,I was aware that the youth hostel was in the vicinity of this red light district,,,,but on my way back down to the boat,I passed through the heart of the red light district ,after dark....Great Scott!!It was astonishing...It was like some kind of vice carnival...There were women on the street bekoning passersby to join them..There were naked girls dancing in window displays like live manequins at a Hustler & Roebucks department store...It was like some kinda carnal county fair!.It was disturbingly awesome..I admit,,it kinda scared me! ...anyway,,I made it to the boat,,and the next morning,I took the train to Copenhagen,,which,,by the way,also had an impressive red light district....not that I noticed such things during this phase in my life......back in those days,boners were sorta confusing,and annoying...they were frowned upon..if you got one,,you'd try to get rid of it,,,......evidently,.as the golden years approach,things change. ... I remember a few years back,,I went to dinner at my friend parents house,,and his 80 year old dad said,,,,;"When you get to be my age,,there are two rules to remember,,,Never trust a fart,,and never waste an erection"....
.....d
d
d
...d
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #17 posted by FoM on July 16, 2002 at 08:22:25 PT
BGreen
I know what you mean. I can walk away from the computer and get work done and not worry about disconnecting. Yesterday the satellite went down and was a mess but they got it fixed and while it was out I did a lot of cleaning. That's one way to get work done.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #16 posted by BGreen on July 16, 2002 at 07:56:47 PT
I, too, believe in Hope
I wasn't ignoring you, Hope. I don't spend as much time at my computer since I got my cable modem. I can walk away from it without being booted offline, so I'm actually getting things accomplished around the house.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #15 posted by goneposthole on July 16, 2002 at 07:47:01 PT
Hope brings hope, thanks!
I just did not want you to think you were ending another post in vain. Can't have those 'Hitchcock ending' posts.The hellbound runaway train the drugwarriors have boarded can't be stopped.There's no 'Hope' for them.;-)
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #14 posted by BGreen on July 16, 2002 at 07:46:02 PT
You can bet they didn't visit a coffeeshop!
At least the Canadian MP in a previous story sat down in a coffeeshop and saw for himself what it was like. It's such a mellow vibe. If you've never been in one, you'd have a hard time understanding it, but it's like sitting around at a friends house when you knew their parents weren't going to be home for a week. Freedom at it's best.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #13 posted by Hope on July 16, 2002 at 07:20:42 PT
BGreen
Laughing out loud at again. That's too funny about talking to them.Cannabis not being mentioned stood out to me, too. It never occured to them, I'm sure, why the guy, if he really was a dealer, wasn't selling that, too. Of course, though, that was sure to be overlooked because that wouldn't be job insurance.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by Hope on July 16, 2002 at 07:15:30 PT
JR Bob Dobbs and goneposthole
Lol! to both of your posts.
I deleted from my too long letter the possibility that wasn't such a "moral" upstanding guy, afraid he might go to hell for being in the Red Light District? Of course Asa was probably there to bring forgiveness to the prostitutes. Yeah. That's the ticket. He was there to forgive them...and grimace at the drug dealers.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by BGreen on July 16, 2002 at 07:09:17 PT
Judging by the women I saw in the windows
in the Red Light District, I'd need Viagra to even talk to them. LOLI wonder if it dawned on Asa and his posse that the dealer didn't offer them cannabis? If the big, bad drug dealers aren't selling the "demon weed," then ...Forget it. They just don't have a clue.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by goneposthole on July 16, 2002 at 06:02:12 PT
He's on a mission from God
God told him to go to Amsterdam.After that, God told him to go to hell.so he came back home to the good ole US of A.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on July 16, 2002 at 05:58:00 PT
One-way whining
Notice how the article goes on from the "Ecstasy, viagra, cocaina" line into the paragraphs about the dangers of E and how it's flooding the USA because of the Dutch. No mention of the reverse - how there wouldn't be Viagra on the streets of the Netherlands without the USA. This isn't a problem, because it's made by one of our respected and reputable drug dealers who make fat campaign contributions. Bob Dole is against other pleasure drugs; why does he endorse Viagra? How much did they have to pay him? Probably a whole lot less than if we tried to get him to do a pro-cannabis ad... And if Asa and the crowd are truly on a tour of The Netherlands, why haven't they investigated a coffee shop? The British drugs-policy officials went to Amsterdam to investigate the coffee-shop system. What was Asa's mission in Amsterdam - is it the only place he can get laid anymore?? (Hmmm... wonder if it's possible to do a modern-day Lysistrata and have the drug-warriors' women deny them sex until they end the drug war? On the other hand, maybe lack of sex is already the problem...)
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by Hope on July 15, 2002 at 23:23:43 PT
Uh oh
I hope I wasn't being "mealy-mouthed" by saying I like Bob Dole when I really don't...because of his pro-drug war policies. I was trying to throw in some sarcastic humor...and likely shouldn't have attempted it. Oh no. I've probably offended someone for sure. Please don't plant your toes in front of my clod hoppers.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by Hope on July 15, 2002 at 23:17:13 PT
P. S.
I don't really like Bob Dole, and his wife even less, but I thought it sounded good. :-)
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by Hope on July 15, 2002 at 23:07:19 PT
Dang it!
I shouldn't have added that second reference to the Museum District. I'm going to resend it with that edited out.Oh yes, and I got ideas from your post, too, Tim Stone. Thanks.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #5 posted by Hope on July 15, 2002 at 23:03:41 PT
letter to USA Today
(Thanks E. Johnson for giving me the idea)Re: U.S. Urges Dutch to Toughen Drug Policy"Amsterdam - The United States' anti-drug chief and a Dutch police commander
were touring Amsterdam's red-light district recently when a man approached
the U.S. law enforcement delegation. "Ecstasy? Viagra? Cocaina?" he
whispered to a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman."Uh....the Red Light District? I think if Mr. Hutchinson was touring the
sleaziest section of Amsterdam , prostitute row, that he shouldn't be
surprised to run into some one who might suspect he was interested in sexual
stimulants. I doubt the D.E.A. spokesman would have an encountered such a
question had he been in the museum district...ah...but he was looking for
trouble. Right?It occurs to me that a group of Federal agents ("the U.S. law enforcement
delegation") walking down the street in mass, looking, probably, like the
Secret Service does around the president, no doubt were recognized for what
they were and being taunted by a heckling free Dutchman. My sense of humor
tells me that is very likely. Yet, of course, the sense of humor of a D. E.
A. agent would likely miss the point of the humorous taunt entirely. He
would just be thrilled to receive proof of the decadence found in a filthy,
"immoral" country ("moral" people hide their vices, should they be tempted
into one, and punish others for having them) like the Netherlands. And what
a great sound bite of "job insurance" to spread around the real "land of the
free" where of course, no body drinks or commits or adultery or uses the
Lord's name in vain, like they do in those "immoral" places.If the offer was not a taunt, (or a lie...our government wouldn't lie to us,
though...would they?) and it really happened just as they are inferring, I
have to ask why anyone would be surprised to find someone in the Red Light
District who might think that someone in that area might just be interested
in such products? Did this also happen when they were in the Museum
District? The truth is, one can find street drug dealers in nearly any large
city in the United States if you go to the right place. Amsterdam is a huge
city and the D.E.A. was in just the right place to be asked such a question.After spending a small fortune to send Mr. Hutchinson and his entourage on
this little tour, we will now be subjected to huge waves of propaganda based
on the ghastly experience the poor man had to endure, as he was walking down
a street lined with prostitutes in picture windows. If he was so delicate as
to have to "grimace" at the very idea that someone should have to hear such
a proposal as the offer of "Ecstasy, Viagra, or Cocaina", he should have
kept his delicate self off a very indelicate street.Do I remember an ex-Senator hawking Viagra all over the national media a few
years ago? Actually, much as I like Bob Dole, that kinda makes me "grimace".
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by freedom fighter on July 15, 2002 at 22:58:29 PT
Sign of Strong Law Enforcement
Yeah right, peace officers cannot afford to not carry weapons and be chatting with any potheads or be consorting to them dang witches! Tat's wright! Men! In fact you are allowed by the Law, to shoot them heathens, the potheads in the back! No questions asked, you will take few days off and still be paid!In fact, boys, you are required two times a year!Oh, boy! I am feeling soooo secured!ff
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #3 posted by Tim Stone on July 15, 2002 at 19:32:31 PT
Oh yeah, right
"Amsterdam — The United States' anti-drug chief and a Dutch police
commander were touring Amsterdam's red-light district recently
when a man approached the U.S. law enforcement delegation.
"Ecstasy? Viagra? Cocaina?" he whispered to a Drug Enforcement
Administration spokesman."Oh yeah, right, like the freaking U.S. drug czar could just walk down an Amsterdam street, with all the craploads of security that routinely go along with the drug czar, and despite the best efforts of international security arrangements, a couple of "dealers" slinked their way through the multiple layers of security to try and sell an illegal substance to the drug czar. or so the article would have us believe. Or at least approached a "spokesman" for the drug czar and tried to sell controlled substances. The author cleverly blurs what, if anything, actually happened. Since the source for this media nugget of info is almost certainly the DEA "spokesman," we have here an excellent example of how the narks and the media collude to create anti-drug myths out of thin air. If anyone approached the DEA "spokesman" and offered to sell illicit substances to the drug czar's entourage, the "spokesman" was just being taunted by anti-prohibition hecklers. Real dealers aren't that dumb. Yet mark my words: We'll hear more of this new nark myth, that A-dam dealing is so out-of-control that the drug czar's contingent was solicited as they walked down the street. In future, when you hear this myth bandied, remember that you were here at its birth. P.S. From an urban legend standpoint, this is probably a variation on some earlier Original-myth of dealers supposedly infesting "our neighborhood."
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on July 15, 2002 at 17:18:02 PT
Asa get your hand out of your...!
Gee Asa took them to the red light district and was SHOCKED yes SHOCKED that evidence of loose morals was everywhere.Maybe they should start asking why the Republicans get off the plane and head immediately for a tour of the sleaziest part of town.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by Windminstrel on July 15, 2002 at 13:32:18 PT
LOL
"Instead, U.S. officials are trying to politely persuade the Dutch to see it their way."Suuure, that'll go over big!
[ Post Comment ]
Post Comment