Drugs-on-wheels from the Dutch connection

Press, 26 July 1983, Page 20

Drugs-on-wheels from the Dutch connection

From ‘The Economist,’ London

A plan by Amsterdam City council to distribute heroin free to selected addicts has placed the Dutch centre-Right Government in the latest of its many quandaries. The burgomasters of The Netherlands’ capital have long believed that the only way to reduce drug abuse is tc take over the supply and distribution business, thus sanitising it and placing it under the direction of officials.

At the moment, council narcotics wagons, like meals-on-wheels, tour the city each night doling out methadone, a substitute for heroin, to registered “junkies.” The latest long-active version of methadone is used, giving addicts relief from their craving for as long as 72 hours. Unfortunately, methadone is itself addictive. It is, though, pure and less likely to kill. Under the latest proposals, brought in by the previous council, but endorsed by the new administration led by the Mayor, Mr Ed .Van Thijn, heroin itself would be dispensed. The idea is that up to 200 of the worst-affected addicts would be able to obtain the drug

on prescription from their local doctor. That doctor would examine the addict each time he got a prescription and would liaise with social workers dealing with his case. The hope would be that the addict could gradually be cured, or at least protected from the worst effects of his addiction. The Dutch Government has indicated that it is prepared to consider the scheme, but there are signs of a split on the issue between the two coalition parties, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. The Christian Democrats, though centre-Left in conviction, have an ideology based on evangelical Calvinism and have little desire to turn the state into a pusher of drugs. The Liberals, who are on the Right wing, believe firmly in individual liberty and want to help those who have brought themselves low by recourse to drugs. In Amsterdam there are about 8000 registered drug addicts, 1200 of them in an advanced state of physical and social decay. Many thousands more, mostly

young people in the city, experiment with drugs, and the smoking of marijuana is as common in parts of central Amsterdam as that of tobacco, prices of Moroccan Gold and Lebanese Red are openly on show in many bars, and have even been given on the local radio. The Netherlands has long been closely linked to the international drug culture. Its traditional liberalism and geographical position have ensured that. Recently the city of Enschede appointed a Mr Pot to destribute marijuana and hashish to local smokers in a downtown night-spot. This practice was discontinued only when too many German Hell’s Angels, and others from over the border, arrived to take advantage of the service. There have also been experiments with drug-related insurance. In Groningen, for example, it is possible to take out a policy entitling the holder to compensation if his soft drugs are seized by the police. Drug-taking, it should be pointed out, is not legal in The Netherlands.