We’re proud of our health-led drugs policy, but the rise of the global illegal drugs trade means we need international solutions
In the Netherlands, we used to look on the international “war on drugs” with a certain amount of disdain. Its solutions were prohibition, criminalisation, stiff penalties and sentences; our national drug policy, on the other hand, focused for decades on reducing the health risks for users – and was relatively successful. We are lenient on soft drugs such as cannabis, allowing for personal use under specific conditions. Hard drugs are technically illegal, but possession of small amounts (like half a gram of hard drugs or one ecstasy pill) is often not prosecuted. Police cracked down on the largest drug traffickers, who mainly operated locally. There was drug crime and even killings, but these remained traceable and largely manageable. Drug trafficking hardly affected our economy or daily life.
That is no longer the case. Spurred on by globalisation and the international criminalisation of drugs, the illegal drugs trade has become more lucrative, professional and ruthlessly violent. The effects have been disastrous. In the past decade, the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe, has become a global transit hub for cocaine. The Dutch authorities have increased their efforts to combat drug trafficking, but they have not turned the tide. Recent figures show a record increase in the amount of cocaine being seized, from just over 22,000kg in the first half of 2022 to 29,702kg in the first half of 2023. While this may seem encouraging at first glance, it actually illustrates the immense scale of what is happening. Our current approach in the fight against drugs is like mopping with the tap running.
Recent trends in drug trafficking have raised another serious concern, as children as young as 14 are being drawn into this illegal trade as “cocaine collectors”. As the seized amounts have increased, so has the violence. In the past five years, three key figures in a large criminal case against an international drugs syndicate were murdered in broad daylight in Amsterdam: the brother of a key witness, his lawyer and a well-known journalist who acted as his adviser.
Read full piece; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/05/amsterdam-netherlands-drugs-policy-trade
