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that by handling drug abuse more as a public health problem than as a criminal one,
they are better able to reduce the harm it causes—both to the individual (health problems
and antisocial behavior) and to society (healthcare costs, policing costs, and drug-related
crime).
Generally, Europeans employ a three-pronged strategy for dealing with hard drugs:
law enforcement, education, and healthcare. Police zero in on dealers—not users—to limit
the supply of drugs. Users generally get off with a warning and are directed to get treat-
ment; any legal action respects the principle of proportionality. Anti-drug education pro-
grams work hard to warn people (particularly teenagers) of the dangers of drugs. And fi-
nally, the medical community steps in to battle health problems associated with drug use
(especially HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C) and to help addicts reclaim their lives.
When it comes to soft drugs, policies in much of Europe are also more creative and
pragmatic than America's. We'll get into an illuminating case study (the Netherlands) later
in this chapter.
Meanwhile, much of the US seems afraid to grapple with this problem openly and in-
novatively. Rather than acting as a deterrent, the US criminalization of marijuana drains
precious resources, clogs our legal system, and distracts law enforcement attention from
more pressing safety concerns. Of the many billions of tax dollars we invest annually
fighting our war on drugs, more than half is spent on police, courts, and prisons. On the
other hand, European nations—seeking a cure that isn't more costly than the problem it-
self—spend a much larger portion of their drug policy funds on doctors, counselors, and
clinics. According to the EU website, European policymakers estimate that they save 15
euros in police and healthcare costs for each euro invested in drug education, addiction
prevention, and counseling.
Like Europe, the US should be open to new solutions. It's out of character for a nation
so famous for its ingenuity to simply label the drug problem a “war” and bring in the ar-
tillery. Europeans make a strong case that approaching drug abuse from the perspective of
harm reduction can be very effective.
And so, to find inspiration, let's take a closer look at how three European countries
deal with drug use: the famously tolerant Dutch stance on the soft drug of marijuana;
the pragmatic Swiss approach to the hard drug of heroin; and—most surprising—the Por-
tuguese approach, which has simply legalized the consumption of
all
drugs, hard and soft
alike.
Amsterdam, Europe's counterculture mecca, thinks the concept of a “victimless crime” is
a contradiction in terms. The city—and all of the Netherlands—is well-known for its pro-
