The drug policy of the Netherlands officially has four major objectives:
- To prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users.
- To reduce harm to users.
- To diminish public nuisance by drug users (the disturbance of public order and safety in the neighborhood).
- To combat the production and trafficking of drugs.
Most policymakers in the Netherlands believe that if a problem has proved to be unsolvable, it is better to try controlling it instead of continuing to enforce laws with mixed results. By contrast, most other countries take the point of view that drugs are detrimental to society and must therefore be outlawed, even when such policies fail to eliminate drug use. This has caused friction between the Netherlands and other countries about the policy for cannabis, most notably with France and Germany. As of 2004, Belgium seems to be moving toward the Dutch model and a few local German legislators are calling for experiments based on the Dutch model. Switzerland has had long and heated parliamentary debates about whether to follow the Dutch model, most recently deciding against it in 2004; currently a ballot initiative is in the works on the question. In the last few years certain strains of cannabis with higher concentrations of THC and drug tourism have challenged the current policy and led to a re-examination of the current approach.
Netherlands has a high anti-drug related public expenditure, the second highest drug related public expenditure per capita of all countries in EU (after Sweden). 75% is law enforcement expenditures including police, army, law courts, prisons, customs and finance guards. 25% is health and social care expenditures including treatment, harm reduction, health research and educational including prevention and social affairs interventions.
Public health
Large-scale dealing, production, import and export are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, even if this does not supply end users or coffeeshops with more than the allowed amounts. Exactly how coffeeshops get their supplies is rarely investigated, however. The average concentration of THC in the cannabis sold in coffeeshops has increased from 9% 1998 to 18% in 2005. One of the reasons is plant breeding and use of greenhouse technology for illegal growing of cannabis in Netherlands. The recent minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner announced in June 2007 that cultivation of cannabis shall continue to be illegal.
Non-enforcement
Cannabis remains a controlled substance in the Netherlands and both possession and production for personal use are still misdemeanors, punishable by fine. Coffee shops are also technically illegal according to the statutes but, as has been said, are flourishing nonetheless. However, a policy of non-enforcement has led to a situation where reliance upon non-enforcement has become common, and because of this the courts have ruled against the government when individual cases were prosecuted.
This is because the Dutch Ministry of Justice applies a gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy) with regard to soft drugs: an official set of guidelines telling public prosecutors under which circumstances offenders should not be prosecuted. This is a more official version of the common practice in other countries, in which law enforcement sets priorities as to which offenses are important enough to spend limited resources on.
According to current gedoogbeleid the possession of a maximum amount of five grams cannabis for personal use is not prosecuted. A maximum of five Cannabis sativa plants may be grown without prosecution, although they have to be handed over upon discovery. (Dutch)
Proponents of gedoogbeleid argue that such a policy offers more consistency in legal protection in practice, than without it. Opponents of the Dutch drug policy either call for full legalization, or argue that laws should penalize morally wrong or decadent behavior, whether this is enforceable or not. In the Dutch courts, however, it has long been determined that the institutionalized non-enforcement of statutes with well defined limits constitutes de facto decriminalization. The statutes are kept on the books mainly due to international pressure and in adherence with international treaties . A November 2008 poll showed that a 60% majority of the Dutch population support the legalisation of soft drugs. The same poll showed that 85% supported closing of all cannabis coffee shops within 250 meters walking distance from schools. .
Drug law enforcement
Importing and exporting of any classified drug is a serious offence. The penalty can run up to 12 to 16 years if it is hard drug trade, maximum 4 years for import or export of large quantities of cannabis. It is prohibited to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of any drug that affects driving ability in such an extent that you are unable to drive properly. (Section 8 of the 1994 Road Traffic Act section 1). The Dutch police have the right to do a drug test if they suspect this, for example on anybody involved in a traffic accident. Causing an accident, which inflicted bodily harm, under influence of any drug is seen as a crime that may be punished with up to 3 years in prison (9 years in case of a fatal accident). Suspension of driving license is also normal in such a case (maximum 5 years). Not so well known abroad is that Schiphol, a large international airport near Amsterdam, has long practiced a zero tolerance policy for drugs for passengers and airplanes. In 2006 there was 20,769 drug crimes registered by public prosecuters, 4,392 persons received an unconditional prison sentence The prevalence rate for imprisonment for drug crimes is on about the same level as in Sweden, with a Zero tolerance policy for drug crimes.
Despite the high priority given by the Dutch government to fighting illegal drug trafficking, the Netherlands continue to be an important transit point for drugs entering Europe, a major producer and leading distributor of cannabis, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and other synthetic drugs, and a medium consumer of illicit drugs. The country has also become a major exporter of illicit temazepam of the "jelly" variety, trafficking it to the United Kingdom and other European nations. The Netherlands' special synthetic drug unit, set up in 1997 to coordinate the fight against designer drugs, appears to be successful. The government has intensified cooperation with neighbouring countries and stepped up border controls. In recent years, it also introduced so-called 100% checks and bodyscans at Schiphol Airport on incoming flights from Dutch overseas territories Aruba and Netherlands Antilles to prevent importing cocaine by means of swallowing balloons by mules.
Although drug use, as opposed to trafficking, is seen primarily as a public health issue, responsibility for drug policy is shared by both the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports, and the Ministry of Justice.
The Netherlands spends more than €130 million annually on facilities for addicts, of which about fifty percent goes to drug addicts. The Netherlands has extensive demand reduction programs, reaching about ninety percent of the country's 25,000 to 28,000 hard drug users. The number of hard drug addicts has stabilized in the past few years and their average age has risen to 38 years, which is generally seen as a positive trend. Notably, the number of drug-related deaths in the country remains amongst the lowest in Europe.
On 27 November 2003, the Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner announced that his government was considering rules under which coffeeshops would only be allowed to sell soft drugs to Dutch residents in order to satisfy both European neighbors' concerns about the influx of drugs from the Netherlands, as well as those of Netherlands border town residents unhappy with the influx of "drug tourists" from elsewhere in Europe. As of 2006 nothing has come of this proposal and Dutch coffeehouses still enjoy robust foreign patronage. The proposal was revived in September 2009 when, in a leaked memo, it was suggested that local municipalities should implement a members-only system, whereby members can buy up to three grammes of hash or weed each with their Dutch bank card. The proposal is unlikely to come into practice since refusing citizens of neighboring nations any services of the sort conflicts with the European Union's policies surrounding the four freedoms.
Results of the drug policy
In the Netherlands 9.7% of young adults (aged 15–24) consume soft drugs once a month, comparable to the level in Italy (10.9%) and Germany (9.9%) and less than in the UK (15.8%) and Spain (16.4%), but higher than in, for example, Sweden (3%), Finland or Greece. Dutch rates of drug use are lower than U.S. rates in every category. The monthly prevalence of drugs other than cannabis among young people (15-24) was 4% in 2004, that was above the average (3%) of 15 compared countries in EU. However, seemingl
Oklahoma Drug Rehabs
Contact us now for drug rehab help for yourself or someone you ... How does the addict obtain drugs/alcohol? ... Rehabilitate: Restore to effectiveness or normal life ...
Drug and alcohol addiction in Canada
Drugs and alcohol addiction information in ... loved one the help to rehabilitate ... of the time that involves alcohol, drugs and addiction. If you have seen these signs in yourself ...
Alcohol Treatment in Denver, Colorado
Most likely you have tried to free yourself of alcohol before ... Once you make the commitment to rehabilitate yourself from ... can help you or a loved-one overcome a drug or alcohol ...
Help for Drug and Alcohol Addiction | Drug and Alcohol Addiction Help
... to help all of those people who enter our program completely rehabilitate themselves from drugs or alcohol. ... Help a Drug Addict Now! Is this inquiry for yourself?
Drug Rehab Program | Long-Term Rehabilitation
A Drug Rehab Program that Works! If you are seeking treatment for yourself or a loved one with a chronic drug or alcohol ... drug or alcohol addiction and rehabilitate ...
Drug Rehab or Prison - Why We Need to Rehabilitate Non-Violent ...
If you have ever asked yourself why one out of ... Effects of Drinking Alcohol; Purple Drink, Cough ... Drug Rehab or Prison - Why We Need to Rehabilitate Non-Violent Offenders." Drug ...
Alcohol Rehabilitation Program - Cirque Lodge Alcohol and Drug Rehab ...
The drug rehab and alcohol rehab program in place at Cirque ... to the fire giving someone purpose to rehabilitate. ... For more information or help for an alcohol problem with yourself or ...
Drug Addiction Rehab
Drugs. Alcohol Addiction; Benzodiazepine Drug Addiction ... aside all bias and rumor and find out for yourself. What is Drug ... Therefore it is possible to rehabilitate someone once ...
Alcohol Treatment In Detroit, Michigan
Once you have committed yourself to rehabilitate yourself from your alcoholism, you must choose the right alcohol rehab ... org can help you or a loved-one overcome a drug or alcohol ...
How to Stay Rehabilitate After Rehab
Alcohol (39 percent) 2. Opiates (17 percent, primarily ... In the United States, there are more than 11,000 drug ... Take care of yourself physically. Part of recovering from an ...