I found this on aus.politics and thought it might be of interest to recoznetters. Trudy ****************************************** >From the Dutch Embassy web site August 6, 1998 http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/drug-inf.htm Press, Public and Cultural Affairs Drug Policy and Crime Statistics Recent accounts in the U.S. press about the Netherlands drug policy have included incorrect and misleading statistics about drug use and drug-related crimes in the Netherlands. What follows is a short list of facts and comparisons to refute those accounts, and sources are given to permit and encourage third party verification of facts. Last month use of cannabis (marijuana) by high school seniors: 18.1% in the Netherlands (1996); 23.7% in the U.S. (1997). (Sources: The Trimbos Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Monitoring the Future Survey, University of Michigan and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy) Any lifetime use (prevalence) of cannabis by older teens (1994): 30% in the Netherlands; 38% in the U.S. (Sources: Center for Drug Research, University of Amsterdam; Monitoring the Future Survey, University of Michigan and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy) Recent (last month) use of cannabis by 15 year olds (in 1995): 15% in the Netherlands; 16% in the U.S.; 24% in the U.K. (Sources: Trimbos Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Monitoring the Future Survey, University of Michigan and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Council of Europe, ESPAD Report) Any lifetime use of cannabis by 15 year olds (in 1995): 29% in the Netherlands; 34% in the U.S.; 41% in the U.K. (Sources: Netherlands Institute of Health and Addiction, U.S. National Institute for Drug Abuse; Council of Europe, ESPAD Report) Heroine addicts as a percentage of population (in 1995): 160 per 100,000 in the Netherlands; 430 per 100,000 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport; White House Office of National Drug Control Policy) Murder rate as a percentage of population (in 1996): 1.8 per 100,000 in the Netherlands; 8.22 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Bureau of Statistics; White House Office of National Drug Control Policy) Incarceration rate as a percentage of population (1997): 73 per 100,000 in the Netherlands; 645 per 100,000 in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry of Justice; White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy) Crime-related deaths as a percentage of population: 1.2 per 100,000 in the Netherlands (1994); 8.2 per 100,000 in the U.S. (1995). (Sources: World Health Organization; Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation) Per capita spending on drug-related law enforcement: $27 per capita in the Netherlands; $81 per capita in the U.S. (Sources: Netherlands Ministry of Justice; White House Office of National Drug Control Strategy) More Dutch Data Results of public health policy There were 2.4 drug-related deaths per million inhabitants in the Netherlands in 1995. In France this figure was 9.5, in Germany 20, in Sweden 23.5 and in Spain 27.1. According to the 1995 report of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, the Dutch figures are the lowest in Europe. The Dutch AIDS prevention-program was equally successful. Europe-wide, an average of 39.2% of AIDS victims are intravenous drug-users. In the Netherlands, this percentage is as low as 10.5%. The number of addicts in the Netherlands has been stable at 25,000 for many years. Expressed as a percentage of the population, this number is approximately the same as in Germany, Sweden and Belgium. There are very few young heroin addicts in the Netherlands, largely thanks to the policy of separating the users markets for hard and soft drugs. The average age of heroin addicts is now 36. In most EU countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands, the use of cannabis has increased in the past few years. A similar trend is, unfortunately, discernible with regard to synthetic drugs. Evidently, international youth culture has more influence on the use of these substances than government policies. International cooperation is therefore vital in tackling this problem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ clipped from: http://www.marijuananews.com/ ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
