In a July 15 article, "McCaffrey takes his charge to officials in
Netherlands," you repeat statements and information about the
Netherlands' drug policy made by the Office of National Drug Control
Policy. I am disturbed that you made no attempt to verify this
material after being confronted with concrete information to the contrary.

When your reporter called this embassy to investigate the story, he
was given detailed information countering the charges about Dutch drug
policy. He was told clearly and plainly that the homicide rate in the
Netherlands was 1.8 per 100,000 (273 homicides in 1996), which is
one-fifth that of the U.S. rate of 8.22 per 100,000.

He also was told that the incidence of cannabis use in the Netherlands
was 4.6 percent of the total population vs. 6 percent in the United
States and that the incidence of youth drug use in the Netherlands was
almost 50 percent less than in the United States in recent years. In
fact, U.S. government data show that in 1995, almost 50 percent of
high school seniors had tried an illegal substance, which is much
higher than the 30.2 percent attributed to the Netherlands.

We also explained our strong belief that most of the other claims made
by Gen. McCaffrey's office regarding Dutch drug policy were based on
an incorrect reading of the data, or simply incorrect data, and our
belief that a responsible examination of the facts would put this odd,
puzzling controversy to rest.

The Netherlands and the United States have, in some respects,
different approaches to domestic drug control policy. However, our
goals in reducing the harmful costs to society of illegal drug use are
the same, and our two countries have a close, constructive,
cooperative relationship in this field.

Joris Vos
Ambassador Royal
Netherlands Embassy Washington