NCJ Number
138827
Journal
Milbank Quarterly Volume: 69 Issue: 3 Dated: (1991) Pages: 495-526
Date Published
1991
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Drug policies developed in Great Britain and The Netherlands have often been cited by critics of current drug policies in the United States, especially in response to the heroin epidemic following World War II and the HIV epidemic of the last decade.
Abstract
The United States Government has shown almost no interest in how other countries handle their domestic drug problems, despite the failure to achieve the stated goals of its drug policy. Instead, policy critics have cited foreign experience. They have done so because of the lack of policy alternatives within the United States; the desire to force comparisons; and the need to express a political, moral, or ideological position. After World War II, critics suggested the possibility of adopting the British solution to the narcotics problem by allowing physicians to dispense narcotics as therapeutic agents. In the 1980's, critics pointed to the Dutch policy of harm reduction through needle exchange, outreach counseling, and other measures. Knowing from past experience that neither punitive enforcement nor treatment facilities will reach more than a minority of users, they learned about and adopted the alternative approaches already in place in The Netherlands. The results of these programs may permit a determination of the degree to which the U.S. drug problem requires unique policy responses and the circumstances under which selected programs can be transferred from other countries and cultures. 55 references