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| Does Tolerating Marijuana Keep People Off Drugs |
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Posted by FoM on August 29, 2001 at 09:40:32 PT Downtown Section Source: ABC News.com 
Some of America's biggest taboos thrive in the Netherlands, where prostitution is a legitimate and profitable industry, and same-sex marriage and euthanasia are legal. And in 1976, the Netherlands decided to tolerate — meaning allow without legalizing — the sale and use of cannabis in some 1,200 licensed "coffee shops."While Dutch officials believe their policy of tolerance is the antidote to the presence of harder drugs, Downtown's hidden cameras encountered a different reality. Dealers were on what seemed like every street corner, selling drugs like heroin and cocaine. All drug use — not just marijuana — is decriminalized in Holland, but the growers who supply the drugs operate illegally and can face prosecution. 'Remarkably Benign Drug' The age minimum to purchase marijuana or hashish (a drug made from hemp) is 18, and the daily limit is 5 grams (.2 ounces), which is the equivalent of about five joints. "The customer base is everybody from 18 to 80," says Arjan Roskam, who operates the Greenhouse Coffee Shops in Amsterdam. "A lot of politicians. I have a lot of police officers. They're all allowed to smoke in Holland." American psychologist Art Lecesse went to Holland to research drug use. He was so impressed by the policy that he moved there. "Here, you don't have to go to jail if you're a marijuana smoker," says Lecesse. "The goal is to try to keep young people in particular away from the criminal drug environment that may get them involved with the harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin." He adds: "Just like there are many people in the United States who think it's OK to have a beer with lunch, there are also many people here who feel it's OK to smoke a joint after lunch. … All Holland is doing is acting on pharmacological evidence that in terms of its acute and long-term affects, marijuana is a remarkably benign drug." Dr. Els Borst, the Dutch minister of health, says cannabis does not have serious health risks. "People have died from tobacco and alcohol, from heroin, from cocaine. But never from cannabis," she says. Steppingstone for Harder Drugs? Borst also points to a study that shows among Dutch citizens who smoke cannabis, 75 percent abstain from all other drugs. But retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the former U.S. "drug czar," believes marijuana is a steppingstone to harder drugs. "We don't agree that marijuana is a benign drug. We think it leads to dysfunctional behavior, it requires effective drug treatment and we want to see high social disapproval of marijuana use," McCaffrey told Downtown. He has called Dutch drug policy "an unmitigated disaster," and says that half the teenagers entering drug treatment programs in the United States are chronic abusers of marijuana. Complete Title: Smoking Dope: Does Tolerating Marijuana Keep People Off Harder Drugs? Source: ABCNews.com Related Articles: Europe Goes To Pot Dutch Approach To Education: Just Lay Out Facts Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 29, 2001 at 17:00:51 PT |
| Should Marijuana Be Legalized? YES NO 27.5% TOTAL: 13, 962 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by herbsmoker on August 29, 2001 at 16:49:07 PT |
| oh yes i can see the day we can all burn openly..but it is the controlling powers who do not care about that..they want to see dope smokers in prison and paying large fines to help fuel the unwinnable war on drugs..i may live to see legal weed in the US, but it will be from afar where i will be burning hard with the cop next door and laughing... [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by mayan on August 29, 2001 at 16:10:31 PT |
| The fact that this article is from Walt Disney's ABC.com is just another sign that we are making signifigant progress. More and more mainstream media outlets are jumping on the bandwagon. This seems to be snowballing very rapidly. Unless you want to know about Gary Conditt, you can't find out what is really going on in the rest of the world by simply watching television. It is a major media blackout! More Americans are forced to get their news from the internet & are there finding out what the powers that be don't want them to know. I beleive that the major television networks will soon be forced to cover the "snowballing" war on the war on drugs if they want to maintian a large viewership. They are now being forced to compete with the internet for news & information & the internet is whipping them like unwanted, red-headed step-children! If we can win over the mainstream media this bogus war will be over real quick. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 29, 2001 at 12:14:49 PT |
| I couldn't post the poll but the message board will work I think. Good News! http://boards.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?LIST&room=abcnews_2020downtown [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by sillyman on August 29, 2001 at 11:55:47 PT |
| Check out the link from comments #1 and #3. As of 2:45pm EST 70.8% Yes 29.1% No 9029 people responding. The message board from the original article is worth checking out too. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by Juan Costo on August 29, 2001 at 11:20:17 PT |
| Weasel McCaffrey neglects to add that forced treatment accounts for these misleading figures and that the zero tolerance approach does not distinguish between use and abuse. A 17-year-old caught smoking his or her very first joint would qualify for "treatment" in McCaffrey's mind. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by SkippyB on August 29, 2001 at 11:10:11 PT |
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| Comment #3 posted by Patrick on August 29, 2001 at 10:38:49 PT |
| "But retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the former U.S. "drug czar," believes marijuana is a steppingstone to harder drugs. "We don't agree that marijuana is a benign drug. We think it leads to dysfunctional behavior, it requires effective drug treatment and we want to see high social disapproval of marijuana use," McCaffrey told Downtown." Just who is we Barry? Today at http://www.abcnews.go.com/Sections/Downtown/ Should Marijuana be legalized? @ 10:20 PST Yes = 69.3% Total Votes = 7,168 Now I know politicians use the polls to their advantage. So my question is, how can support for marijuana legalization give any hungry want to be elected politician the image of "being soft on drugs." Looks like voicing the opinion to legalize marijuana may actually get em elected from this view! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by E. Johnson on August 29, 2001 at 09:45:56 PT |
| ABC has acknowledged the Netherlands! But why are they still quoting McCaffrey? The man no longer plays a role in American drug policy. But it's worth it for the nostalgia just to hear him lie again. McCaffrey and CLinton both have trouble with that little word "is". They both have trouble with understanding what the meaning of the word "is" is. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 29, 2001 at 09:44:16 PT |
| Smoking Dope Does legalized marijuana help keep people off harder drugs? Downtown's hidden cameras head to Holland, where a tolerant drug policy may — or may not — be the antidote. Do you think marijuana should be legalized in the United States? http://www.abcnews.go.com/Sections/Downtown/ [ Post Comment ] |
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