Drugs and Drug Policy in the Netherlands (From Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Volume 14, P 229-276, 1991, Michael Tonry, ed. -- See NCJ-130417)

• NCJ Number: 130422
• Author(s): E Leuw
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 48 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

National drug abuse policies in the Netherlands reject law enforcement as the main strategy except in relation to higher levels of trafficking in such drugs as heroin; instead, Dutch policy can be characterized as normalizing, pragmatic, and nonmoralistic.

Abstract

Thus, the Netherlands accepts the existence of the use of illegal drugs as inevitable in modern society. Official reactions are directed at the reduction of social and personal harm. The drug policy rests on the revised Opium Act of 1976 that aims at separating the markets and the social contexts of drugs like marijuana and other drugs. It focuses law-enforcement efforts on the higher levels of the supply system. In addition, retail trade in marijuana is tolerated in many "coffee shops." Moreover, the use of "hard" drugs is considered mainly to be a public health problem. Policies concerning these drugs include easily accessible social assistance programs, methadone maintenance, other drug treatment facilities, and needle exchange to prevent HIV transmission. 76 references (Author abstract modified)