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Amsterdam's drug policy
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I don't know when this is dated; I obtained it from the Dutch consular agent
mid february. I fear things are changing for the worse in Holland, and this
might be out of date.
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city of Amsterdam feature service
press, information and public relations
amstel 1
1011 PN amsterdam
telephone (020) 552.9111
fax (020) 624 55 50
AMSTERDAM: FACTS AND FIGURES
13. Drugs
The Amsterdam policy on drugs is a purely pragmatic one. The capital has a
population of more than 700,000, including approximately 6,200 hard drug
users. The policy is mainly focused on discouraging the use of hard drugs and
combating the drug trade. In addition, every effort is made to restrict the
risks run by addicts themselves and the drug-related problems they confront
the rest of society with. In the Amsterdam policy on drugs, a distinction is
drawn between hard drugs and soft drugs. About 1,500 of the 6,200 hard drug
users are from Surinam, the Netherlands Antilles and Morocco, and about 2,000
are from other countries in Europe, mainly Germany, Italy and England. The
number of drug addicts is now on the decrease. The average age of the addicts
has risen in recent years from 26.8 in 1981 to 32.3 in 1990. In the same
period, the percentage of drug addicts under the age of 22 fell from 14.4 to
2.5%.
Policy of Discouragement With respect to the use of drugs, Amsterdam adheres
to a policy of discouragement. Active efforts are made to combat the drug
trade. The Narcotics Brigade of the Amsterdam Police has doubled its staff in
the past few years. This discouragement also takes place by way of an
intensive information campaign on the effects and risks of drug use. The
policy of discouragement means that the police take an extremely intensive
line of action in dealing with drug addicts who commit crimes. In recent
years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of policemen assigned to
combat drug-related crime. The attitude of the Amsterdam authorities to drug
addicts from abroad has been part of the discouragement policy. Foreigners do
not have access to the assistance programmes Amsterdam has set up for its own
drug addicts.
Hard Drugs and Soft Drugs
The Dutch policy on drugs differs in a number of ways from the policies of
other countries. One of these differences is the distinction drawn here
between hard and soft drugs. Ever since 1978, this difference has been
stipulated by law: the possession of hard drugs is a felony and the possession
of a small quantity of soft drugs is a misdemeanour. "A small quantity of soft
drugs" means a maximum of thirty grams. Amsterdam has approximately a hundred
coffee shops and other public places where soft drugs are - illegally - bought
and sold. Soft drug prevention does not have a high priority, but if there is
a quantity of more than thirty grams of soft drugs in a coffee shop or some
other public place, or if hard drugs are sold or there are disturbances of the
peace, the police will immediately have the premises closed down. There is an
extremely intensive check on places of this kind. As a result of this policy,
a distinction has developed between the soft drug trade and the hard drug
trade. The soft drug trade had thus been "decriminalized.n Studies have shown
that very few users go from soft drugs to hard drugs.
Assistance Programmes
A number of assistance programmes have been developed for addicts. The most
widely known one is the methadon programme. In two mobile dispensaries and a
number of stationary ones, drug addicts receive a daily dose of methadon.
Every day, the mobile dispensaries drive to a number of fixed spots in the
city. By providing addicts with methadon, the Municipal Medical and Public
Health Department can have regular contact with them. This makes it possible
to give the addicts certain useful information and, if they so wish, to offer
them further help. This "further help" includes drug rehabilitation programmes
and social work facilities. The methadon enables drug addicts to continue to
function within society in a more or less normal fashion. The use of the same
injection needle by various addicts can lead to the spread of AIDS and
hepatitis B. In order to prevent this, there are eleven sites in Amsterdam
where addicts can exchange used needles for new ones free of charge. In the
recent past, more than 1,000,000 needles have been exchanged this way every
year. This "needle exchange" has been set up on the request of organizations
that promote the interests of drug users. A survey has indicated that it has
not led to any increase in this form of drug use. In Amsterdam, only 30% of
the addicts take drugs intravenously. Most of them prefer "the Chinese way,"
i.e. sniffing.
Street Junkie Project
There are about 400 "extremely problematic" drug addicts in Amsterdam. In
general they are homeless and have no legal source of income. Most of them
live in the city centre. Many of them see to their daily needs by stealing and
disturb the people of the neighbourhood in any.number of ways. In an effort to
alleviate this problem, the "street junkie project" was set up. Criminal drug
users who have been arrested five or more times within a short period of time
are given a choice. They can either do a non-suspended sentence for all the
crimes they have committed or they can sign up for a drug rehabilitation
programme, which they then have to complete. The project, which was set up in
close conjunction with the national authorities, started at the beginning of
1989. By the end of 1989, it is to be totally operational and forty extra
cells and sixteen beds at a drug rehabilitation clinic (Jellinek) are to be
available.
Foreign Addicts
There are about 2,000 foreign hard drug addicts living in Amsterdam. In the
past few years, Dutch authorities and various social work agencies have
established contact with the authorities in other European countries with
respect to this point. The aim of this contact is to develop assistance
programmes so that foreign drug addicts can return to their own countries and
get the help they need there. The agreements made in this connection only
pertain to drug users who have not committed any crime in the Netherlands. If
they have, they are deported. The transfer of deported drug addicts takes
place in close cooperation with the authorities of other European countries.
As a result of these measures and the discouragement policy in Amsterdam, the
Dutch capital is no longer a Mecca for the drug users of Europe. This news is
gradually spreading to foreign drug users.
Results
The Amsterdam policy on drugs has enabled medical and social agencies to
establish contact with approximately 85% of all the drug addicts in the city.
The number of drug addicts infected with Aids or hepatitis B is much lower
than in other European and North American cities. Compared with other large
cities in Europe and North America, the drug addicts of Amsterdam are not
responsible for large-scale crime. There is a growing desire among them to
stop using drugs. Calculating over a longer period of time, the number of
addicts in Amsterdam is declining. The reduction in the number of young
addicts has been the most striking.
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Brandon Hutchison,University of Canterbury,Christchurch
New Zealand
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