NCJ Number
182867
Journal
Crime & Justice International Volume: 16 Issue: 38 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 13-17
Date Published
March 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the criminal justice system of the Netherlands and how the United States and the Netherlands manage drug problems.
Abstract
After reviewing the criminal justice system of the Netherlands, the article discusses differences between the Netherlands and the United States regarding how the two countries manage the problem of drug use/addiction, trafficking and dealing. The Netherlands police distinguish between drug users/addicts and traffickers, dealers and organizers of the drug market. They regard users, and especially addicts, as people with social, behavioral or medical problems and consider treatment, prevention, education and even methadone programs the best way to deal with this group. The Dutch drug policy differentiates between “soft” drugs (e.g., all cannabis products) considered less harmful to public health, and “hard” drugs such as cocaine and heroin. While Dutch policy regarding use and sale of soft drugs is lax, by American standards, their policy regarding hard drugs is much the same as that of the United States. It remains to be seen if the Netherlands’ system for dealing with a population of 15 million and approximately 40,000 drug addicts could be successfully implemented in the United States, with a population of nearly 250 million and a number of users and addicts that cannot be estimated. Figures