DUTCH, OWENSBORO FIGHTING DRUGS DIFFERENTLY

Light up a marijuana "joint" in an Owensboro coffee shop and you're likely
to get arrested.

Do the same thing in the Netherlands and you're just part of the crowd,
said visiting city officials from Veenendaal, a city of Owensboro's size in
the Netherlands.

But while the sale of marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, their city has
less drug-related crime than Owensboro, said Veenendaal Mayor Jaap Spros.

About 85 percent of Kentucky's crime is drug-related, compare to less than
50 percent in the Netherlands, Spros said.

Fighting crime is just one of the things Spros, Veenendaal Police Chief
Dick de Leeuw and Public Security Policymaker Ruud Engelaar have spent the
last few days in Owensboro to explore.

The three Dutch visitors, who arrived in Owensboro on Friday, have met with
Owensboro Mayor Waymond Morris, Police Chief Allen Dixon and other city,
county and state police officers. They also spent a day in Louisville and
Frankfort.

While here, the three toured Owensboro government offices, visited the
Daviess County Detention Center and Owensboro Police Department firing
range and even rode along with Daviess County sheriff's deputies.

The visit is sponsored by the Owensboro Sister Cities Program. Veenendaal
is a "twin city" of Olomouc in the Czech Republic, which is Owensboro's
Sister City, said Bill West, executive director of the Sister Cities Program.

Morris visited Veenendaal on the way home from a visit to Olomouc in 1997,
West said. Olomouc has five sister cities.

Spros said the Dutch delegation has so far been impressed with the level of
cooperation demonstrated between so many police agencies in Kentucky.

"We're very interested in (law enforcement) on the local level and how it's
organized and how the public can impact policing," Spros said.

Both Veenendaal and Owensboro share a healthy concern for emergency and
crisis management, Spros said.

And the three were surprised to see that the entire city is governed by a
commission of a mayor and four commissioners, Spros said. Veenendaal has a
parliament of 31 leaders from seven political parties, he said.

"We went into the (Owensboro) commissioner's meeting and thought, 'Where is
the parliament?' " Spros said.

"It was also a surprise, an eye-opener to learn about the weapons," de
Leeuw said, referring to the Kentucky laws that allow residents to buy and
carry weapons. Only hunting weapons are allowed in the Netherlands. Dutch
police officers do not carry guns.

Marijuana is classified as a "soft drug" in the Netherlands, which means it
is legal, but its use is regulated by the government, de Leeuw said.
Marijuana can be purchased and smoked in public "coffee shops," but only 5
grams can be purchased a day, he said.

A business can have no more than 500 grams of the drug on hand to sell at
one time, de Leeuw said.

Surprisingly, there are only one or two drug-related deaths a year, de
Leeuw said. Most crime in Veenendaal is related to alcohol, which is also
legal, he said.

Because soft drugs are legal, police forces can concentrate on fighting
hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, de Leeuw said. A system of separating
hard drugs from soft drugs might benefit Owensboro and U.S. law enforcement
in the same way, de Leeuw said.

Legalizing marijuana is an odd notion to most in Owensboro, but there's
nothing wrong with exchanging ideas, West said.

"That's why I push this program, to get a different perspective on things,"
West said. "No one people has a lock on all knowledge."

The visitors attended a farewell dinner Wednesday night and will return to
Veenendaal today.