Drug Laws of the Netherlands Essay

One might think that because the Netherlands leniency toward drugs and alcohol is high that it would result in higher crime rates and lower quality of health, but this assumption is false. Not only do statistics show that the Netherlands has a lower crime rate, but they also have have longer life expectations, happiness levels, and overall satisfaction with life compared to the United States (“Europe: Netherlands”; “North America: Untied States”).

Countries all over the world are dealing with a rise of drug use and drug-related public health concerns. Many nations adopt vaguely similar methods of battling the “War on Drugs”, from strict border control to harsh criminal punishments for drug-related offenders, violent or not. Even with these efforts put in place, many places are not seeing the desired results. Drug use is mainly treated like a crime, and that may be the problem. Countries that have concerns with rising drug use among their citizens should follow Portugal in decriminalizing the possession and use of small quantities of all illicit drugs.

For many years, a real push has been looming on the idea of legalizing now illegal drugs. This has become a hot debate throughout nations all over the world, from all walks of life. The dispute over the idea of decriminalizing illegal drugs is and will continue on as an ongoing conflict. In 2001, Drug decriminalization in all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, became a nationwide law in Portugal (Greenwald). Ethan Nadelman, essayist of “Think again: Drugs,” states his side of the story on the continuing criminalization of hard drugs, in which he stand to oppose. Whether it is for the good of human rights or not, decriminalizing drugs may be a good head start for a new beginning.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the legalization of marijuana in Colorado as well as the Netherlands drug policy. It has been found that even though Colorado has legalized marijuana, there are provisions that must be followed. The Netherlands however have not legalized marijuana, but they do feel that seeing possession of marijuana is not a crime, so therefore marijuana is tolerated. Colorado’s society does not agree with this legalization due to adolescent use, however the Colorado Amendment 64 protects this. The Netherlands is seen as too liberal, but they are only doing what is in the best interest of the users.

“Drug policy regarding the control of the traditional illicit substances (opiates, cocaine, cannabis) is currently moving through upbeat times in almost all Western countries. Prohibition on the basis of repressive law enforcement not only seems to fail on a large scale, but also to create vast additional costs, problems, and harm for drug consumers, who often find themselves in extreme social, economic, and health conditions” (Fischer 1995: 389).

Prior to the passage of this legislation, many people convicted with possession of drugs were given significantly long sentences under state laws; often this included individuals receiving life sentences for what is now known as simple possess (Courtwright, 2004). In this regard the Controlled substance act could be viewed as a liberalization of drugs policy by breaking up all drugs into schedules with differencing penalties. This does not mean that the legislation is not without

Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken. Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Peter Kraska, “The Unmentionable Alternative: The Need for and the Argument against Discriminalization of Drug Laws, “ in Drugs, crime an

While many drugs enjoyed a period of legalization, eventually most drugs have come to find a place as a scapegoat for many of society’s ills, from poverty, unemployment and homelessness, to rape, murder, and reasons to discriminate certain races based on a stereotypical link to a certain drug. (Steiker, C. S., 2011) At one time even alcohol was a major scapegoat for societal problems, but its strong history and presence in Euro-ethnic culture made

In order to find an alternative to the United States current drug policy, it is helpful to look at the current options. Governments typically take three broad approaches toward drugs. The first is legalization, in which possession and sale are lawful but still subject to regulation and taxation. The second is criminalization, which consists of the banning of possession and sale with criminal punishment (i.e incarceration). Lastly, there is the combination of the two—where sale and possession are prohibited, yet possession is punishable only by sanctions, such as fines or abuse treatment but not jail time.

There was a great push for a non-judgmental approach that would ‘reduce physical, social and psychological risks to individuals who use drugs and to society as a whole’ (McCann & Temenos, 2015, p. 217). Never the less, this was a highly contested set of policy formulation across all levels of governance.

Drug legalization is an enduring question that presently faces our scholars. This issue embraces two positions: drugs should not be legalized and drugs should be legalized. These two positions contain an array of angles that supports each issue. This brief of the issues enables one to consider the strengths and weakness of each argument, become aware of the grounds of disagreement and agreement and ultimately form an opinion based upon the positions stated within the articles. In the article “Against the Legalization of Drugs”, by James Q. Wilson, the current status of drugs is supported. Wilson believes if a drug such as heroin were legalized there would be no financial or medical reason to avoid heroin usage;

The use of drugs has been an issue for decades, but in 2001 Portugal decided to take the lead and decriminalize the use of drugs. By doing so they have been able thus far to drop down the drug overdose rate, prevent the spread of drug related diseases and have been able to steer the money more to helping people with treatments rather than incarcerations. It is now treated as a health issue rather than a criminal one. Although drugs are still illegal in Portugal if caught with them you are offered treatment rather than incarceration because it’s drugs are now the least common cause of death in Portugal. By decriminalizing all drugs, governments can minimize overdose rates, stop the spread of drug-related diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C, and spend less money by offering drug offenders treatment versus incarceration.

(Transition: While the basis of them legalizing marijuana is to try and reduce the possible `gateway' to harder drugs, There is sympathy to those who are addicted to hard drugs and the Dutch government still treat them with certain degree of tolerance)

Drugs have been a problem in society for a very long time and it is still an ongoing subject of debate. Different organisations work hard to keep people from using drugs, though a new issue has arisen. During the last few years there have been discussions in some countries to decriminalize soft drugs, including cannabis and ecstasy.