Legalization of Drugs The Dutch experience

Agenda: 1. Introduction 2. Opium Act 3. Coffee shops 4. Paradox 5. Addiction care 6. Comparison 7. Drug report 2017

1. Introduction Production, buying, selling and trading of all drugs is illegal! Recreational use is allowed (tolerance policy) Why? drug-free Dutch society is unrealistic and unattainable, and efforts would be better spent trying to minimize harm caused by recreational drug use. Cannabis users are not obliged to buy their soft drugs from criminal dealers who might easily bring them into contact with hard drugs.

2. Opium act (1919, revised & amended in 1976) Goals: discourage and reduce drug use, certainly in so far as it causes damage to health and to society, and to prevent and reduce the damage associated with drug use, drug production and the drugs trade. Separation of markets: distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs This is the major difference in drug policy between Netherlands and other countries. Repressive measures against drug trafficking (other than cannabis) The Netherlands has a policy of toleration regarding soft drugs. This means that the sale of soft drugs in coffee shops is a criminal offence but the Public Prosecution Service does not prosecute coffee shops for this offence. Neither does the Public Prosecution Service prosecute members of the public for possession of small quantities of drugs.

2. Opium act Marijuana Hash Other cannabis products Cocaine Heroin LSD Schedule II Soft drugs (max 5 grams) Schedule I Hard drugs (max 0,5 grams) Marijuana Hash Other cannabis products Cocaine Heroin LSD Amphetamines “Drugs” include substances and preparations. “Substances” are defined as “elements with a human, animal, plant or chemical origin, including animals, plants, parts of animals or plants, as well as micro-organisms.” “Preparations” are defined as “solid or liquid mixtures of substances.

3. Coffee shops Max 5 grams of soft drugs per person, per day Advertisment of drugs is illegal Only to 18+ No alcoholic drinks may be sold or consumed No hard drugs Local market only *Not allowing non-residents of the Netherlands to enter the premises and buy soft drugs* *In 2014 a total of 591 shops

4. Paradox Buying & selling cannabis is tolerated, production is not. Where do the coffee shops get their cannabis from? 2014: judge found two people guilty of producing cannabis in large quantities but refused to punish them 2017: law to partly legalize production  State-appointed producer (not yet implemented)

5. Addiction prevention and care Drug prevention in schools Free testing of ecstasy pills Addiction care (counselling, admission to an institution, psychiatric care) Clean syringe programme Drug consumption rooms

6. Comparison Someone is arrested for marijuana possession in the U.S. every 42 seconds In 2005 there were 269 marijuana possession arrests for every 100,000 citizens in the United States, 206 in the United Kingdom, 225 in France, and just 19 in the Netherlands. Lighter enforcement does not lead to more drug use. About 25.7 percent of Dutch citizens reported having used marijuana at least once, which is on par with the European average. In the comparatively strict United Kingdom, the rate is 30.2 percent and in the United States it is a whopping 41.9 percent. In Sweden, 52 percent of marijuana users report that other drugs are available from their usual cannabis source. In the Netherlands, only 14 percent of marijuana users can get other drugs from their cannabis source, according to European drug monitors. This is largely because the vast majority of cannabis users buy from coffee shops. *some numbers might be outdated

7. Dutch drug report