Letters to the Editor, International Herald Tribune

Drink and Drugs

Regarding "Sweden Reeps Its License, EU Upholds State Monopoly on Alcohol
Sales" (Oct. 24):

A Scandinavian official responsible for health and social affairs said
that the EU decision to uphold Sweden's state monopoly was "proof that the
European Union understands that alcohol policy is part of our Nordic
welfare state ideology."

"The decision enables us to conduct a national alcohol policy based on our
own national needs," he said.

Yet a national drug policy that enables the Dutch to make a distinction
between soft drugs (cannabis) and hard drugs meets with strong opposition
in Nordic countries. The splitting of the drug markets in the Netherlands
has proven a successful means of keeping young people away from drugs like
heroin.

In Amsterdam, only 1.2 percent of heroin addicts are under 22 years of
age, and the percentage has been diminishing for some years. The average
age of heroin addicts in Amsterdam is 36.4 years and is rising every year.
Clearly, almost no young people are entering that group.

Leave us in the Netherlands our own policy based on our own needs.

JANHUIB BLANS.
Amsterdam.