A couple of weeks ago, I attended an event at the Dutch Embassy that was billed as “a frank discussion on Dutch drug policy.” The aim I guess was to debunk many of the myths and stereotypes about The Netherlands’ marijuana-coffee shops, needle exchange programs, and preference for treatment over incarceration.

Upon reflection, I suppose I shouldn’t have been suprised, but I found the whole thing to be pretty disappointing. The Dutch ministers who spoke at the event seemed eager to dispell the misconception that the Dutch give their people some modicum of freedom when it comes to ingesting illicit substances. They assured us that they’re very serious about eradicating drug abuse, and even mentioned — several times — that they’ve signed a number of cooperative agreements with U.S. Drug Czar John Walters, taking care to mention how much the admired his earnestness and determination in stamping out the use of marijuana. They also bought hard on all the usual bullshit public health hysteria about marijuana causing dementia, permarital sex, and all other manner of social ills (they also seemed to be especially worried about recent surveys showing an uptick in the number of Dutch teens drinking alcohol — not abusing, just drinking). They boasted that the number of coffee shops serving hashish and cannabis was dwindling, and that several cities in The Netherlands prohibited sales of the stuff to “non-residents” (EU regulations apparently forbid public officials — I’m not making this up — from using the word “foreigner.”)

The speakers spent most of the night explaining how the Dutch approach drug use with a public health model. They don’t throw marijuana users in prison. Instead, they allow them to smoke at a number of tightly-controlled, highly-regulated coffee shops, while at the same time inundating them with public health PR campaigns, interdiction efforts, and government-funded treatment centers. Their aim, they said, was to eliminate the use of drugs. They simply believe that their methods — approaching drug use a little like America approaches the obesity issue — were preferable to ours — which would be arresting drug users and throwing them in prison (sometimes just shooting them). To that end, I suppose, the Dutch are right. All else being equal, it’s probably better to be nagged than to be shot or tossed in prison.

But what I found disappointing is that the concepts of personal freedom, choice, and leaving people alone to do as they please never came up over the course of the entire evening. “Freedom” wasn’t on the agenda. The Dutch don’t care about liberty any more than we do. They don’t recognize the fact that milions of people use illicit drugs like marijuana responsibly, and without much effect on anyone else — both over there and over here. No, just like the U.S., the Dutch feel it’s the government right and responsibility to tell people what they should and shouldn’t be putting into their bodies. Like our government, the Dutch government doesn’t believe people should have sole responsibility for their own behavior. Like our government, they have no intention of treating their citizens as adults.

The only real difference between the Dutch approach and the American approach is that the Dutch drug policy isn’t quite as violent, coercive, or destructive as U.S. drug policy. It’s probably less expensive to treat an addict than to jail him, too (particularly given that addicts in prison can generally get treatment, too).

But the Dutch approach is every bit as contemptuous of individual freedom or personal automony as the U.S. approach. And it’s every bit as paternalistic and condescending.

Given Europe and the EU’s obsession with public health and the precautionary principle, I suppose it was naive of me to go into the event thinking the Dutch would even give an obligatory nod to personal freedom. Nevertheless, it was still a little disappointing.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 24th, 2005 at 11:17 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.