Commercialization of marijuana increases use

WASHINGTON (AP) When Dutch police stopped arresting marijuana smokers in
the 1970s, there was no change in the number of people using the drug. But
when coffee shops starting selling it openly in the 1980s, pot use almost
tripled, researchers report today.

A study in the journal Science suggests that the lack of criminal penalties
for use and possession of small amounts of marijuana did not make the drug
more attractive, but being able to buy it as easily as a cup of coffee
leads to wider use.

"What the Dutch experience shows is that deciding not to throw drug users
into prison is a very different issue from deciding to make commercial
sales of the drugs available," said Robert MacCoun of the University of
California, Berkeley, a coauthor of the study.

Other experts cautioned that the Dutch and American cultures and attitudes
toward drug use are so different that the experience in the Netherlands may
not apply to the United States.

"There is great danger in extrapolating from one country to another," said
Lloyd D. Johnston of the University of Michigan, who has researched drug
use by teenagers and young adults in the United States.

The study comes in the midst of a growing debate on drug policy in the
United States.

Some groups believe that if drugs are legalized, addicts seeking money to
support their habits would commit fewer crimes. Others believe greater
availability of drugs would not increase addiction rates.

But many authorities say that any easy access to drugs or a diminished
enforcement would lead to runaway use and a substantial increase in addiction.

Some advocates are calling for wider access to marijuana for medical uses.
A bill proposed in Congress would let each state develop its own medical
marijuana policies.

In the Science study, MacCoun and Peter Reuter of the University of
Maryland said that in the 1970s, Dutch authorities decided to stop strictly
enforcing marijuana laws relating to possession and sale of small amounts.
The laws remained on the books, but the police were formally instructed to
ignore them.

For years following that action, said MacCoun, the rate of marijuana use
remained stable among 18yearolds surveyed.

Starting in the 1980s, however, some coffee shops in the Netherlands began
selling small amounts of the weed. Police took no action for sales of up to
30 grams, which is about an ounce.

"There was a real growth in the coffee shops," said MacCoun. Some shops
moved into popular commercial areas and even printed menus that offered
different types of marijuana. Prices ranged from $2 to $12 a joint.

The law prevented advertising the drug, but the shops found a way.

"They advertise by a code," said MacCoun. Ads for shops where the weed is
available might have a sketch of a marijuana leaf, or a cloud of smoke, or
the image of an entertainer closely linked in the Netherlands to pot smoking.

By the early 1990s, said MacCoun, marijuana use rates soared.

"The percentage of 18yearolds who have tried marijuana at some point in
their lives was up to 44 percent and it had been about 15 percent," he
said. "The numbers started climbing, during a time when the numbers were
not climbing in other European nations."

By contrast, teenage use of marijuana in the United States was estimated
in 1992 at about 12 percent.

MacCoun said Dutch authorities responded by restricting the amount of
marijuana that could be sold, reducing it from 30 grams to 5 grams per
transaction. He said 5 grams is enough to keep a typical user puffing away
for a month.

Johnston said that though the study is "quite interesting," he believes
some of the statistics on Dutch marijuana use in the 1980s are suspect,
making it unclear if absence of enforcement really has no effect on the
rate of use.

"I'm not sure that early data is reliable," he said.

Johnston also questioned whether the Dutch experience is relevant to the
United States.

"This is a single case study of one country with a culture that is quite
different than ours," he said.