Associated Press Reports
On Dutch Ambassador’s Protests On Drug Bizarro’s Remarks
Prior To His Trip To Holland
See
Exchange Between
Mike Gray and the Drug Bizarro On CNN Talkback Live:
Gray Warns That Dutch Will Protest
and
Go Dutch!
(Ed. note: First, a US Drug Czar should avoid going to the
Netherlands at all costs. For years, the prohibitionists have gotten away with lying about
Dutch drugs policy, specifically the success of separating cannabis from the hard drugs.
However, the DEAland media have occasionally deviated from party line, so this is no
longer as safe as it once was. Bringing media attention to Holland at a time when the
Administration has made "drugs" a major news item is very risky. But then to
call Dutch policies "an unmitigated disaster," when they had been warned that
the Dutch Ambassador would be watching, was reckless.
Even for McCaffrey, this was a major blunder. If he had just said something ambiguous,
then it would not have been news. Now he has the AP on record making an issue of it.
Certainly, the AP gives no hint of any facts about Dutch policy, other than calling it
"permissive." The Drug Czar’s trip to Holland will be a major test of both
his integrity and that of the media. Either way, we will learn something.)From
the Associated Press
July 11, 1998
MCCAFFREY REMARK IRKS AMBASSADOR
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration’s drug czar
raised the ire of the Dutch ambassador by criticizing the Netherlands’ permissive
drug laws.
Retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who was traveling to Europe today on a fact-finding
tour, said the Netherlands’ policy of letting its citizens use marijuana and other
soft drugs for therapeutic and recreational purposes was "an unmitigated
disaster."
The Dutch ambassador to the United States, Joris M. Vos, said he was "confounded
and dismayed" by McCaffrey’s description of the Netherlands’ drug policy
Thursday on CNN’s "Talkback Live."
"I must say that I find the timing of your remarks, six days before your planned
visit to the Netherlands with a view to gaining firsthand knowledge about Dutch drugs
policy and its results, rather astonishing," Vos wrote McCaffrey.
Drug policy spokesman Rob Housman said McCaffrey hoped the incident would not affect
the outcome of the trip.
McCaffrey planned to visit major European cities to underscore the need for
international cooperation on combating drugs, to look at European treatment and prevention
programs and to try to learn from other countries’ drug-fighting programs.
McCaffrey will visit Sweden, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and England, as well as the
Netherlands, during the eight-day visit.
McCaffrey said two highlights of his trip will be a visit to the headquarters of the
United Nations Drug Control Program in Austria, where he will exchange views with U.N.
officials on global drug cooperation, and to Portugal, where he will visit the European
Monitoring Center.
In Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands he will tour drug
treatment facilities.
He said he wanted to learn from Swedish officials how to effectively package treatment
to help the 4 million chronic addicts in the United States.
"We’ve not yet built the infrastructure required to handle that problem in a
more rational way," he said. "It’s one of the major shortcomings in the
United States."
Asked whether he plans to drop by coffee shops in the Netherlands
that openly sell marijuana and hashish, McCaffrey responded: "Coffee shops would
be a bad photo op. I’m not sure there’s much to be learned by watching somebody
smoking pot."
McCaffrey will wrap up his visit with a brief stop in London on July 18.
Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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