Drugs and Drug Policy in the Netherlands

National drug abuse policies in the Netherlands reject law enforcement as the primary drug abuse strategy except in regard to higher levels of trafficking in hard drugs. Dutch policy can be characterized as normalizing, pragmatic, and nonmoralistic. It accepts the existence of the use of illegal drugs as inevitable in modern society. Official reactions are directed at reduction of social and personal harms. The drug policy is based on the revised Opium Act of 1976 that aims at separating the markets and the social contexts of soft drugs (cannabis), and hard drugs. It focuses law-enforcement efforts on the higher levels of the supply system. Retail trade in cannabis is tolerated in numerous "coffee shops." The use of hard drugs is primarily considered a public health problem. Policy components concerning hard-drug use include easily accessible social assistance programs, methadone maintenance, other drug treatment facilities, and needle exchange.