The Dutch Embassy Gets a
Letter Published in The Washington Post
Washington Posthttp://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
April 4, 1998
DRUGS AND DUTCH LAW
In "Britons March for
Marijuana" [news story, March 28], T. R. Reid states that the Netherlands
"has legalized possession of amounts up to an ounce" of marijuana. I would like to state for the record that possession of drugs has not been
legalized in the Netherlands. The possession of soft drugs up to 30 grams (approximately
one ounce) is not, however, an indictible offense but a summary offense, and in practice
low priority is given to the prosecution of these offenses.
(See Go Dutch! for general info
and
Vraag Een Politieagent. Go Ahead,
Ask A Cop For Dope. The Dutch Don't Mind
New Scientist Special Report for
some details.)
Top priority is given to offenses relating to the large-scale traffic in both hard
(heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, etc.) and soft drugs (hashish and marijuana). Moreover, under
Dutch law, any action performed as part of a plan to traffic in hard drugs and any attempt
to bring hard drugs into the country are also indictable offenses.
Supported