I've spent a few days in Amsterdam. It's a lovely city.
Too bad marijuana prohibitionists use their caveman-logic to try to denigrate Netherlands, and Amsterdam specifically.
What would the Truth about Netherlands cannabis policy look like? Fortunately, we have the great ENCOD President Dr. Frederik Polak to set the record straight.
Read his entire piece because it's worth it if you'd like to learn more about the real stats.
>I'll share a few of the highlights, which I found quite refreshing to read, as even my so-called "liberal" associates seem shocked to hear the truth about cannabis in the Netherlands.
..the problems with “drug tourists” are largely confined to cities and small towns near our borders with Germany and Belgium. These problems, mostly involving traffic jams, are at least as much the result of cannabis prohibition in our neighboring countries as they are the result of Dutch tolerance.
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Most outrageously, the drug czars ignore the well known and undisputed statistics that show that Dutch use of cannabis remains about half that of the US and is comparable to – or less than – use in our neighboring countries with more repressive policies. Moreover, Dutch heroin use rates are also less than half of US rates. We attribute that fact to what we call the “separation of the markets” for hard and soft drugs.
My organization, ENCOD, European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, spreads the scientifically based claim that the theory of prohibition has been falsified by the Dutch experience with cannabis decriminalization.
It is my firm belief that the American people, and certainly Californians, would support decriminalizing drugs and regulating drug markets, if only they knew that the drug problem in their country is much worse than in countries with more liberal policies. The problem is that Americans do know that their country has a serious drug problem, but they also believe or are convinced that in the Netherlands and other European countries the situation is even worse. This is what they have heard from their governments and drug czars.
There is a tradition of lies being told by US officials, especially about the Netherlands. An earlier drug czar, I believe it was Lee Brown, warned that visiting Amsterdam means stumbling over junkies in the center of town.
And in the LA Times article linked to above, you see the same idiot-Lee Brown- trying to adopt a more 'mature' and 'sophisticated' argument against cannabis.
You see, first they tried blatant racism. Now that's not quite so acceptable, they've moved from the false "gateway drug" theory to the current hollow prohibitionist arguments.