DUTCH ERUPT AT SPEECH BY AMERICAN ENVOY

U.S. drug czar wrongly cited higher crime rate in Holland

The Netherlands reacted angrily yesterday to critical remarks by U.S. drug
czar General Barry McCaffrey in which he blasted liberal Dutch narcotics
policies and incorrectly claimed that the Netherlands has much higher rates
of murder and other crime than the United States.

The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States. The per
capita crime rates are much higher than the United States," McCaffrey said
at a press briefing yesterday in Stockholm. He is due to travel to the
Netherlands tomorrow, but he may receive a cool reception after his wildly
inaccurate remarks.

He said the United States had 8.22 murders per 100,000 people in 1995
compared with 17.58 in the Netherlands and that overall per capita crime
rates in the United States were 5,278 per 100,000 compared with 7,928 in the
Netherlands.

"The overall crime rate in Holland is probably 40 percent higher than the
United States," said McCaffrey. That's drugs."

The Dutch government's Central Planning Bureau poured scorn on McCaffrey's
figures. Official data put the Dutch murder rate at 1.8 per 100,000 people
in 1996, up from 1.5 at the start of the decade. The Dutch say the U.S. rate
is 9.3 per 100,000.

"The figure (McCaffrey is using) is not right. He is adding in attempted
murders," a planning bureau spokesman said.

The Netherlands, a front-runner in drug tolerance, recently started giving
free heroin to hard-core addicts through a health ministry project.

Dutch law permits possession of up to five grams of light drugs for personal
consumption. Sale and consumption of hard drugs are not legally permitted,
but authorities have developed a pragmatic approach, putting the emphasis on
stopping drug-trafficking and helping addicts, who are treated as medical
cases and not as criminals.

A spokesman for McCaffrey, Robert Housman, said the drug czar would warn
Dutch authorities not to "put American children ... at risk" by allowing its
liberal drugs policies to be promoted abroad.

But three hours later, Housman telephoned news agencies to say the statement
"no longer stands" because it did not reflect McCaffrey's views.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"