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successful, Europeans have
tried and failed with other
programs. For instance,
experimental “needle parks”
(places where the hard drug-
taking community could
gather) ended up attracting
junkies and creating a public
nuisance. These were aban-
doned for the more low-key
maintenance centers. But at
least Europeans are dealing
with the challenge openly, cre-
atively, and compassionately.
In contrast, some observ-
ers suggest that the US's more
punitive policies towards
addicts cause “junkii cation”: they marginalize addicts and drive them to
dangerous, predatory behaviors—from simple stealing, to mugging, to pros-
titution, to selling drugs to others. In other words, if you treat heroin addicts
like they're dangerous junkies...that's exactly what they'll become.
h e casual American observer who sees more junkies on the streets of
Europe than in the US may conclude they have a bigger drug problem because
of their more lenient drug policies. In fact, according to the 2007 UN World
Drug Report, the percentage of Europeans who use illicit drugs is about
half that of Americans. h e dif erence is that theirs are out and about while
working with these centers and trying to get their lives back on track. Ours
are more often either dead or in jail. h rough its busy maintenance centers,
Switzerland has provided literally millions of heroin i xes, and they've not
had a single overdose death. Overall the US loses roughly 18,000 people a
year to hard drug overdoses, and Europe (with a much larger population)
loses about 8,000.
Like my European friends, I believe we can adopt a pragmatic policy toward
both marijuana and hard drugs, with a focus on harm reduction and public
health, rather than tough-talking but counterproductive criminalization. It's
time to have an honest discussion about our drug laws and their ef ectiveness.
When it comes to drug policy, you can be soft, hard...or smart.
Dutch cops, happy to ignore pot smokers since
1976 (but still tough on hard drugs), measure the
ef ectiveness of their society's drug policy in terms
of harm reduction.
