U.S. DRUGS ADVISER SOOTHES ROW OVER DUTCH POLICY

THE HAGUE, July 16 (Reuters)- The United States' top drugs adviser on
Thursday steered clear of a diplomatic row over Dutch drug policy, insisting
instead he had gleaned valuable insight by visiting treatment centres for
Dutch drug addicts.

``We do have significant differences (of opinion). But I characterize the
visit as a very useful opportunity for me to hear what the Dutch are doing
and to learn,'' General Barry McCaffrey told a news conference at the end of
a one-day visit.

McCaffrey, on a European fact-finding mission, locked horns with Dutch
authorities earlier this week when he called Dutch drugs policy a
``disaster'' and said the murder rate in the Netherlands outstripped that in
the U.S.

His figures, the Dutch pointed out, were based on incorrect data. According
to the government's Central Planning Bureau, the murder rate in the
Netherlands stood at 1.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1996, far below the
U.S.'s 8.22 per 100,000.

Speaking to Dutch reporters, McCaffrey did not apologize for the error. His
figures, he said, came from Interpol.

``I shouldn't comment on Interpol data... I learned in college: don't argue
about facts,'' he said.

At the height of the row, the Dutch ambassador to the United States wrote a
letter of protest to the White House, and Foreign Affairs Minister Hans van
Mierlo summoned the U.S. ambassador in The Hague, Terry Dornbush, to express
his displeasure.

Insisting his visit to the Netherlands had been useful, McCaffrey agreed the
Dutch and the U.S. views often differed.

``I came with a bias that Dutch police were good.... I cautioned my Dutch
partners that police of this high calibre can allow policy to work
adequately even when it may not be good policy,'' the drugs tsar said.

He criticized a Dutch Health Ministry pilot programme under which a small
group of hardcore heroin addicts is administered free heroin in an effort to
reduce drugs related crime.

``It is our own view that this does not constitute drug treatment but
instead ends up in essence leaving and marginalising an element of the
population,'' McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey, who stayed clear of coffee shops selling marijuana during his
visit, insisted there was an inherent danger in tolerating the use of soft
drugs.

``When I'm asked what the most dangerous drug in America is, my response is:
It's a 12-year-old regularly using marijuana,'' he said.

The Netherlands, often considered a front-runner in the area of drugs
tolerance, argues there should be a strict separation between hard and soft
drugs policy.

It tolerates the small-scale production and sale of soft drugs but actively
discourages the abuse of hard drugs. Addiction to hard drugs like heroin is
less common in the Netherlands than in other countries, according to the Dutch.

McCaffrey reiterated his concern that the Netherlands was a booming exporter
of drugs to the United States and the rest of Europe. He said there was
reason to believe the Netherlands produced half of Europe's amphetamines and
much of its Ecstasy.

Fighting drug abuse could not be done if each country applied its own
policy, he said.

``No one nation can attempt to solve the drug problem on their own, that's
our view point. You would have to do it by cooperating with your partners.''

McCaffrey added the gap between the Dutch and North American views on how to
fight drugs abuse was likely to diminish. ``Reasonable people working (with
the) evidence and facing the same problem probably will have convergence of
views over time and I'll leave that open to a dialogue among equals.''

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett