DUTCH DRAWBACK: DRUGS EQUALS CRIME

THE optimistic account of the impact of injecting rooms in The
Netherlands, and commending of the "Dutch model" of drug law reform
("A room of their own", Features, 5/4) is misplaced.

Proponents of drug law reform in this country, including those who
advocate injecting rooms, have projected an image of the Dutch
situation that betrays a selective blindness to the reality of the
drug problem in The Netherlands.

The following facts from well-researched and reputable sources (Tbe
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction,
www.emcdda.org) illustrate the unpalatable consequences of the liberal
drug policy in The Netherlands.

The Netherlands sports the highest rate of cocaine use in the European
Union. Drug-related deaths continued to climb steadily from 1991-1997.
The prevalence of HIV infection in injecting drug users was among the
top 5 out of 15 nations.

Hepatitis C infection rate was in the top four. Cannabis use is well
above average and grew steadily following introduction of the cannabis
"cafes". The number of heroin addicts has almost tripled since the
liberalisation of drug policies, and arrests for drug offences showed
the most rapid rate of increase for all countries assessed.

Dutch per capita rates for breaking, and entering, a crime closely
associated with drug abuse, are three times the rate of those in
Switzerland and the US, four times the French rate, and 50 per cent
greater than the German rate (Interpol, International Crime
Statistics, 1995).

The Netherlands is also recognised as one of the primary countries in
the region for the origin and transit of illicit drugs, with growing
concern expressed by neighbouring countries about drug traffic across
their borders from The Netherlands.

In all, The Netherlands prototypical image, promulgated by some, is
not supported by the facts. For a conservative country that The
Netherlands once was, these changes represent a huge swing of the
pendulum. At the very least, given the turbulence of the current
debate, accurate information is surely not too much to ask if we are
to have an informed debate.

Dr JOHN I. FLEMING
Director

Dr GREGORY K. PIKE
Principal Research Officer
Southern Cross
Bioethics Institute
Plympton, SA