READING ROOM - DUTCH JOINT STATEMENTS

Following the recent controversy in the pages of The Sofia Echo about
Bulgaria's new law that will mean that even those caught with only a single
dose of marijuana could be sent to jail, two Dutch-born expat contributors
to The Echo, MARLENE SMITS and KOOS SCHOUTEN, give their perspectives.

Marlene Smits:

IN 1976, the Dutch government decided to decriminalise marijuana for
basically two reasons; to counter illegal trade and criminality, and in
order to separate the soft and hard drug markets.

The result was clearly not successful, as one can witness in Amsterdam. The
fact is that most hard drug users also keep using cannabis, which means
both types of users frequently meet in coffee shops. Frequent users of
cannabis decide more easily to use hard drugs.

That's why the markets of hard and soft drugs were never really separated.
A Dutch politician, from the VVD party, Otto Vos concluded from special
research that: "25 years of decriminalisation has led to a serious rise in
crime rates". So the Dutch lost on both counts. The number of coffee shops
has grown substantially in the past 20 years and they have been known to
cause problems for people in their neighbourhoods, and to sell hard drugs
and export soft drugs. So the Dutch are left with drug tourists who flood
Amsterdam and the Dutch cities on the border with Germany.

On a personal note:

I was born in Holland and for the past 10 years of my life, I have lived in
Amsterdam. It wasn't a pretty sight. I know that the Dutch are very proud
of their capital, but I see absolutely no reason for pride. Amsterdam has
become a magnet for degenerates of all kind. If one thinks it's normal that
people smoke heroin on public transport at three o'clock in the afternoon,
near school children, Amsterdam is your city. But what has this to do with
marijuana, one asks. In my opinion, a lot!

There is no junkie on earth that started his life of drugs with crack or speed.

They all started smoking weed or hash. I had acquainted myself with
marijuana and hash a long time before I moved to Amsterdam. Most of my
friends were smoking it and growing it.

I even had a girlfriend whose parents were hippies and who were growing it
in their vegetable garden. Then there were my other friends who were
growing weed under lamps, massive amounts.

They were very scientific about it and it resulted in a very strong weed.
Two of them were suffering from schizophrenia and psychosis, which is quite
something when you are 15.

Looking back I realise that's it's not surprising they had this mental
condition. They were smoking day in day out, year in year out. I was
smoking as well. But at the point where most of my friends went from weed
or hash to LSD or ecstasy, I stopped smoking.

One of my friends was admitted into a mental institution with severe
depression. I stopped seeing her and moved to Amsterdam. There I was a
witness to very disturbing and crazy things; once, when I was waiting on
Dam Square for my girlfriend, a junkie tried to hit me with an electric
guitar. I was happy I wasn't wearing high heels, so that I could run faster
than him. And I had people shooting up on my doorstep many times. I lived
in one of the best neighbourhoods of the city, but this made absolutely no
difference.

Apart from being confronted with drugs every day, the city gets really
dangerous because of the junkies, who can turn aggressive, and because of
the tourists who don't know how to handle drugs. Most people are so scared
that nobody dares to do anything when an incident occurs. Or they just
don't care. There was a junkie in the tram once who randomly started
hitting people. But nobody did anything.

Then there are those occasions where literally everybody is on drugs, like
on the gay parade and queens day. Now, don't get me wrong, I am very well
aware of the differences between soft and hard drugs, but to me they are
interlinked.

When one starts to tolerate soft drugs, one is also one step closer to hard
drugs. And this means that you have to live in a society where an
80-year-old grandmother can score heroin quicker than a tab of aspirin.
Nobody should want this. Therefore I am in favour of the new drug law in
Bulgaria as long as the Government gives priority to putting a dealer
behind bars, rather than a 15-year-old kid who just wanted to be cool.

Cannabis can cause psychoses:

Trimbos Instituut (Dutch Knowledge Centre for Mental Health Care) concluded
in October 2003 that smoking marijuana increases chances of psychoses for
everybody.

Facts:

* "The percentage of Dutch cannabis users in the general population aged 12
and above showed a slight increase between 1997 and 2001."

* "The Netherlands has the second largest percentage of ever users of
cocaine in the European Union, and the fourth largest number of current
users." Which means that decriminalising cannabis has no positive effect on
the number of hard drug users.

Source: Annual report 2002 of the National Drug Monitor, an initiative of
the Dutch ministry of health, welfare and sports.

There are studies like the one by the ministry of health, welfare and
sports of 1995, in which is stated that the figure of heroin and cocaine
users under the age of 21 in Holland is relatively low (what is implied is
that this is thanks to the decriminalisation of cannabis). And I do believe
this, because heroin is too scary for non-junkies, and cocaine too
expensive for kids. They are on ecstasy, GHB, speed and different types of
LSD, these types of drugs however were not included in this research.

Koos Schouten:

AFTER reading the dialogue between my fellow Sofia Echo columnist Michael
Harris Cohen and Soundingboarder Danny Dresser (The Echo, April 16) I felt
obliged to jump into the ring. I was born and raised in one of the capitals
of drugs and vice; Amsterdam.

One thing I will not do, for a change, is quote the web sites of welfare
organisations or of institutions of higher learning. I had the dubious
privilege to watch with my own eyes the damage done to whole generations of
bright young teenagers by so-called "soft" drugs. The fact that Michael
Harris Cohen likes to inhale has absolutely nothing to do with the sad
reality that, unlike him, many young teenagers have no choice in their
minds whether to inhale or not. The peer pressure that these children
experience is so immense that the opinion of adults makes absolutely no
difference.

The only pressure that can possibly counter this peer pressure is fear of
the judicial system. I would like to recommend that the Government look
into creating a points system for teenagers, with punishments such as
community service. Cleaning streets together with the current usually Roma
workers will not only be a sobering experience but will also help them
realise some of their future career options if they end up unqualified and
stoned. For dealers of any kind of drugs, I think the re-institution of
labour camps would work really well, it will encourage many to seek other
kinds of employment.

Just from my entry class of about 30 children into one of the finest
Amsterdam High Schools (Berlage), only a handful graduated. The drop-out
rate was enormous. I agree that not all can be attributed to drugs, but the
numbers were staggering. The main reason for this was the over-relaxed
attitude that was created by smoking dope. The lifestyle of hard working
students was changed to one of relaxation and fun. The level of academic
achievement in Amsterdam plummeted to all time lows and has never been
re-achieved.

Bulgaria cannot afford to have entire generations start relaxing their
current high level of academic achievements. Bulgaria cannot afford to see
thousands of children become zombies in mental institutions like some of my
class-mates. Bulgaria cannot afford to trade in its values and its hopes
for a better future in exchange for being cool and stoned.

The greatest natural resource this country has is its high level of
education with a motivated youth that wants to become part of all that is
good in the democratic world. This, by the way, is the very basis of my
company's choice of Bulgaria. I know it is much more fashionable to be
critical of strong government than to admit that once in a while we need to
have our civil rights adjusted in order to have a better future.

I therefore compliment the Bulgarian Government on its strong plans to
institute a culture of zero tolerance in the hope that this can help to
avoid the heartbreaking experiences I saw first hand in Holland.