BACK IN 1976, the Dutch Parliament liberalized its policy towards drug use, a policy differing broadly from that of its European neighbours. The new drug legislation differentiated drugs such as heroin, cocaine and LSD, which were viewed as presenting “an unacceptable risk,” from the “softer,” less dangerous cannabis products.

Possession of 30 grams of marijuana or hashish (supposedly enough to satisfy the average user’s needs for several weeks) was decriminalized. With certain restrictions, the Dutch government also permitted sale of marijuana and hashish in licensed coffee shops. These shops were prohibited from advertising or selling more than 30 grams to one customer. The sale of hard drugs was illegal in the shops, as were sales to persons under 18 years of age. Importing, exporting and selling cannabis products remained illegal outside of the coffee shops.

What are the consequences of the legalization of the so-called risk-free drugs?
Prior to the 1976 drug policy, the content of joints in Holland were similar to those smoked elsewhere in Europe. THC (delta-nine-tetrahydrocannabinol), the component that provides the high, was three to five percent. Nederwiet, the now-popular Dutch-grown cannabis, is far more potent, with a THC that can rise to up to 20 percent, providing a quicker, more enduring high than yesteryear’s joint.

A leading British expert on the effects of cannabis on users, Dr. Heather Ashton, of the University of Newcastle’s School of Neurosciences, found that more and more of the elevated-level THC cannabis was required to get a high as smokers developed a tolerance to the high THC-level joints. THC, which does not dissolve in water, is absorbed by human fatty tissues and remains there longer than either nicotine or alcohol. Thus, the THC effects remain with the heavy user far longer than he might think, causing a decline in short-term memory, diminished ability to learn and decreased motor skills. Regular users of the high content THC Nederwiet are developing a dependency on this “soft” drug, Ashton has found.

Dutch professionals working with the abusers of “soft” drugs have found that young people, especially those lighting up with the high THC cannabis, may become chronically passive, spending days smoking joint after joint, unable to find direction in their lives.
Even though the coffee shops are prohibited from selling to minors, cannabis use among Holland’s 14- and 15-year-old high-school students rose sharply between 1984 and 1996. Back in 1984, four percent of these teenagers surveyed said they had tried cannabis once. By 1996, 28 percent of boys and 21 percent of girls admitted to smoking up. Addicts (registered cannabis users being treated) increased by 25 percent in 1997. At the same time only a three-percent rise in the numbers of people looking for help with alcohol-related problems was recorded.

Twenty odd years ago, the Netherlands was comparatively free of international drug-trafficking criminals. Today, Holland has become an illegal drug producing and distributing giant, a devastating threat not only to the Netherlands but across Europe. Of the amphetamines seized in France in 1996, 68.5 percent originated in the Netherlands as well as some 80 percent of the ecstasy tablets seized. In 1988, almost 40 synthetic drug-producing sites were found in the Netherlands.

And Nederwiet, most of which is illegally produced, is also wending its illegal way to the Netherlands’ neighbouring countries. Holland’s soft-drug yearly sales are estimated at some $3 billion.

In the 1970s, proponents of the liberalized policy said that the coffee-shop soft-drug environment would save users from the clutches of drug peddlers and stop them from falling into hard drugs. Critics however, argue that this policy tells kids it’s perfectly okay to smoke cannabis and provides an easy stepping stone to the use of synthetic drugs like ecstasy. They question the mentality brought about by soft-drug legalization and the generally tolerant attitude towards drug use which followed, and worry that this may endanger the Netherlands as well as its European neighbours.

Heroin addiction, virtually unknown in the Netherlands prior to the policy change, has escalated, with the number of addicts estimated by the Netherlands’ Institute of Mental Health (called the Trimbos Institute) to be 25,000. An estimated 12,000 addicts are being treated in methadone-maintenance programs.

While there may be no psychological step up from cannabis smoking to heroin, and not all pot smokers progress to hard drugs, more than 90 percent of heroin addicts treated at De Hoop (The Hope) drug rehabilitation centre in Dordrecht, Holland, were habitual grass users before moving on to heroin.

Despite legislation which forbade the sale of hard drugs in coffee shops, they were being sold there. So, five years ago the government clamped down, reducing the number of shops and the amount of cannabis products sold to an individual user, from 30 grams to five.

Holland’s tolerant drug laws were aimed at preventing drug users from getting caught up in an illegal drug environment. But the escalation in the use of coke, ecstasy, speed and heroin in that country questions the efficacy of its government’s drug policy. As a result, twenty six years after liberalization, drug laws in the Netherlands are still being debated and observers are left wondering if the longed-for benefits of legalization were just wishful thinking.

Author: Gladys Pollack
Source: Northwest Center for Health & Safety