EXPERIENCE SHOWS LIBERAL DRUG LAWS ARE PROBLEMATIC

When I visited Amsterdam in the early 1980s, I was surprised by the
open and liberal attitudes embraced by Dutch society. Having lived in
different parts of Germany for nearly six years, I had gotten used to
nudity in parks, spas and swimming pools, but the discovery that
marijuana or hashish could be ordered at a coffee shop from the menu
was startling, to say the least.

I had been advised not to indulge in pastries that were dispensed by
coffee-shop workers who did not speak English, for lack of
communication could expose me to items laced with marijuana.

Being one of the earliest parliamentary democracies, the Netherlands
has always been very proud of its liberal heritage and propensity for
social experimentation. I do not wish to create the impression that
the Dutch people or the governments they elect are radical, for that
would be far from the truth. The main prong of the experiments point
to a belief that by legalizing unwanted and potentially harmful
activities, they could be localized, better controlled, and made clean.

The Dutch experiments, however, have met with some serious recent
setbacks, so much so that the debate over freedom and license has
taken a sharp turn toward conservative principles. In an interview
with the Telegraph, sociologist Dick Houtman of Rotterdam's Erasmus
University said: "The Netherlands went further in allowing all sorts
of liberties than many other countries ... There is a feeling that our
tolerance is the principal cause of many of the problems we experience
now." Those problems include thievery, vandalism, riots, sex
trafficking, and drug use.

The irony is that while a country like the Netherlands, long sought
after as a haven for sex and drugs, has moved away from failed liberal
policies, members of the El Paso City Council tried to get the federal
government to initiate a debate on legalizing drugs. The move came
from a belief that relaxing the strictures on drug possession and
distribution would bring relief to the drug war zones on the Mexican
side of our borders.

While I harbor no antipathy toward a debate, I do believe that people
in the political realm who bring ideas to the table should first weigh
them on the scales of history. This is important, for as George
Santayana pointed out, those lacking historical and experiential
perspectives are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past.

The notion that nefarious characters who indulge in criminal
activities would pack their bags and take down the storefront signs
because their businesses have been decriminalized is drenched in
naivete. The Dutch experience provides ample evidence to show that
resourceful criminals devise new methods to stay in the game.

Even assuming that decriminalization succeeded in propelling the
villains out, one must seek to find out if the remedy created new
malaise and new victims. The Dutch experience shows clearly that
tolerance and passivity toward the vices have had a destabilizing
effect on society, and have wrought havoc among youth who are
particularly vulnerable to enticements. In other words, the remedy
ended up becoming new poison.

Perhaps members of the El Paso City Council should read more broadly
to expand their historical and political horizons before launching
schemes.

They should also be guided by the truth that morality cannot be
diluted for the sake of convenience.

Ramnath Subramanian, a sixth-grade science teacher at Eastwood Knolls
School in El Paso, writes often for the El Paso Times on educational
topics.