NCJ Number
143837
Journal
Contemporary Drug Problems Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1992) Pages: 303-326
Date Published
1992
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Amsterdam is unique even in the Netherlands in terms of the visibility of its drug culture; about 40 percent of the 15,000-20,000 Dutch drug addicts are concentrated in that city.
Abstract
Dutch drug policy is predicated on the strategies of normalization and risk reduction of the use of illicit drugs. Dutch criminal law treats possession and sale of soft drugs, up to a quantity of 30 grams, as a misdemeanor. While heroin and cocaine are outlawed, the law distinguishes between drug use and drug trafficking. Law enforcement policy is aimed at restricting the criminalization and marginalization of hard drug users as much as possible. To study the impact of methadone treatment on the crime level of drug users, the authors conducted up to seven interviews with 150 hard drug users over a 13-month period. The data suggested that supplying methadone does not decrease the level of property crime committed by drug users and in fact suggests that clients of low-threshold methadone programs may commit more crime than users who do not subscribe to any program. A typology to characterize addicts by their income-generating activities and lifestyle patterns resulted in three categories: dealing junkies, criminal junkies, and normalized users. The latter category reflects the advantages and drawbacks of the Dutch drug policy. 7 tables, 7 notes, 21 references, and 1 appendix