Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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 of with a
warning and are directed to get treatment; any legal action respects the principle
of proportionality. Anti-drug education programs work hard to warn people
(particularly teenagers) of the dangers of drugs. And i nally, the medical com-
munity 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.
I'm not saying Europe always gets it right. h ey have employed some
silly tactics in ef orts to curb marijuana use. For example, a study in France
showed that boys smoke more pot than girls, which they attributed to boys
being nervous about approaching girls socially. So they literally gave boys
government-funded training in l irting. While this notion seems ridiculous,
you have to admit it's refreshing to see legislators thinking “outside the box.”
Even if some of their ideas fail, others turn out to be brilliant.
Meanwhile, the US seems afraid to grapple with this problem openly
and creatively. 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 i ghting our war on drugs, more
than two-thirds is spent on police, courts, and prisons. On the other hand,
European nations—seeking a cure that isn't more costly than the problem
itself—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 artillery. Europeans make a strong case that approaching
drug abuse from the perspective of harm reduction can be very ef ective.
And so, to i nd inspiration, let's take a closer look at how two European
countries deal with drug use: the famously tolerant Dutch stance on the
soft drug of marijuana, and the pragmatic Swiss approach to the hard drug
of heroin.
