NETHERLANDS PROVES THE FOLLY OF ZERO-TOLERANCE DRUG POLICY

Increasing Penalties For Methamphetamine Production, As Proposed In
Illinois, Is Not The Answer.

Illinois' incarceration rate will no doubt rise, and possibly taxes
as well, but as long as there is a demand for meth, there will be a
supply.

There are cost-effective alternatives to the failed drug war that do
not involve legalizing meth. Despite dramatically lower per-capita
spending on the drug problem, the Netherlands has successfully
reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition with
regulation. Separating the hard and soft drug markets and
establishing controls for age has proven more effective than zero
tolerance.

Dutch rates of drug use are significantly lower than U.S. rates in
every category. As the most popular illicit drug in America,
marijuana provides the black market contacts that introduce users to
hard drugs. The "gateway" status ascribed to marijuana is the direct
result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Given that marijuana is
arguably safer than alcohol, it makes no sense to perpetuate policies
that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of drugs like
meth.

Unfortunately for Americans, our leaders are more prone to
counterproductive preaching that cost-effective pragmatism.

A dated comparison of Dutch vs. American rates of drug use can be
found at: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/c_drugstat.html.

More recent figures can be found at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm.

(Robert Sharpe is Program Officer at The Lindesmith Center-Drug
Policy Foundation, 4455 Connecticut Ave N.W., Suite B-500,
Washington, DC 20008-2328. E-mail: http://www.drug-policy.org)