DUTCH CAFE CULTURE MAY NOT BE RIGHT FOR EXPORT

FOR cannabis users the registered coffee houses of Amsterdam, which
legally sell small quantities of the drug, represent the fulfilment of
a dream.

As the debate continues to rage over the legalisation,
decriminalisation and downgrading of cannabis in the list of
controlled drugs, a research trip to the Dutch capital proved a
fascinating study for the Chief Constable of Fife, John Hamilton.

Charged with the task of examining the experience of a nation with
roughly the population of Scotland in tackling aspects of the drugs
war, the police chief was researching the issue through his membership
of the Police Foundation, the Government-appointed committee which
called for a radical review of the UK's drugs laws earlier this week.

He found that, while Holland had a reputation for liberal drugs rules,
the real picture provided a different experience.

While the numbers of registered coffee shops in Amsterdam has fallen
from 452 in 1994 to 279 more recently, the culture still thrives.
Despite tolerance of the establishments, they are still very much back
street "seedy" ventures, he said.

A "menu" at one coffee shop revealed that up to 20 different strains
of the drug were available at prices ranging from just UKP3 to UKP33,
without the risk of police intervention.

The business, he explained, has become very official, with the
hundreds of retailers involved in the trade paying taxes on their
sales and with the representation of their own professional body.

While the sale of cannabis is tolerated, Mr Hamilton emphasised that
this did not mean wholesale approval of all drugs. "Although it is the
general perception that the Dutch law is more lenient than ours, it is
equally as strong and equally as punitive.

"They have looked to target and manage the problem in the main centres
rather than go to a pure law enforcement model. They don't license
coffee shops. They register them."

Mr Hamilton said he visited three very different establishments on a
Thursday evening and described the atmosphere as non-threatening. "It
was a relaxed atmosphere that you would find in any good pub." Strict
controls ensured the coffee houses had not become havens for illegal
trade, he added.

"The running of the coffee shops are subject to a number of rules
which are drawn up by local police. They state that no more than 5g
can be sold in any one transaction. No hard drugs or any sort of
cannabis can be sold if the premises are closed.

"Of course, no drugs can be sold to minors under the age of 18. No
minors are allowed into the premises."

Mr Hamilton admitted he had grappled with the double standards of the
system, which would allow the drug to be sold but where the supply of
cannabis remained a crime.

While the Dutch approach has been built on foundations established in
the culture of the 1960s and 1970s, he was not convinced it should be
replicated.

"The whole idea of the Dutch attitude is to create a distinction
between hard and soft drugs, and the evidence is that has been
achieved in the drugs scene because the level of heroin use is less
proportionately to what it is in the UK. There is less evidence of
people progressing from cannabis into drugs such as heroin.

"I don't think that we can radically say that the Dutch experience
should necessarily be copied . . . I don't think it is easily
transferrable to a country like Britain, where our experience has been
somewhat different."