Drug Legalization -- Reduces use!

[Greg Peisert <gpeisert@jamesgregory.com>]

Study Contradicts U.S. Drug Czar

   Marijuana is easily and legally available in the Netherlands, while in
   the United States mere possession is a serious crime. Yet a new study,
   financed by the Netherlands government health ministry and conducted
   jointly with Amsterdam University, indicates there is far less
   per-capita pot use in the Netherlands than in the U.S.

   The study found 15.6 percent of Dutch people aged 12 and over had used
   or tried marijuana, versus a U.S. figure of 32.9 percent. The study
   further determined that 2.5 percent of Dutch people aged 12 and over
   had used marijuana within the last month, contrasted with a U.S.
   government estimate that in 1997 5.1 percent of Americans used
   marijuana in a similar period. The Dutch study spanned 1997 and early
   1998,

   "The figures show that a repressive drugs policy, as implemented in
   the U.S., does not necessarily reduce drugs use," the Dutch study
   said. "(Ease of) availability is not a determining factor for the use
   of drugs in a country."

   The study sharply contradicts claims made last summer by U.S. Drug
   Czar General Barry McCaffrey, who created an international incident
   when he angrily (and ignorantly) attacked Dutch leniency on marijuana.
   McCaffrey said Dutch policies had led to an increasing number of
   users, while, he claimed, America's pot prohibition had cut drug use
   substantially.

   (Sources: Reuters / Peter McWilliams)