THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands had its jaw tightly set Thursday for the arrival of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the outspoken commander of the American war on drugs. Several days ago the general prepared for his visit by dealing a few public punches against the Dutch and their tolerance for narcotics.
(Ed. note: Narcotics?)

McCaffrey is on an eight-day tour of European cities, looking at how Europeans fight and cope with drugs. That eludes the Netherlands, which more than any other country has painstakingly developed a division between "soft" and "hard" drugs. It is where over the counter one can buy small bags of "space cake," "northern light" or "zeropolm," all forms of marijuana, and not go to jail.

The Dutch policy to disconnect cannabis from the criminal underground of so-called hard drugs by allowing small quantities of marijuana to be sold in cafes has earned it the envy of some countries and the derision of others. McCaffrey has made it clear that he belongs to the critics.
(Ed. note: No indication of why they do this, or that it has been successful in keeping hard drug use far below the US rate.)

In recent days he has called the permissive Dutch policy "an unmitigated disaster." He further said, mistakenly, that the Dutch murder rate far outstripped that of the United States, and his office issued a statement that all but scolded the Dutch government.
(Ed. note: But no indication that just the opposite is true.)

Government officials expressed their annoyance publicly. The foreign minister called in the American ambassador.

The fracas has made the general the talk of the nation, not just in government offices, but also in the "soft drug" bars. One newspaper headline returned the criticism, saying it was the general who was "an unmitigated disaster" for drug policy.

Thursday, he returned to more conventional diplomacy by praising his hosts and saying that he had gained valuable insights from meetings with the police, doctors, social workers and policy makers in several cities. He said he had appreciated the chance to learn of experiments in treating heroin and cocaine addicts.

"I came here to listen and see what I can borrow," the general said. "Most important for me is to discover how to use methadone as a tool to deal with heroin addiction. The Dutch have 20 years of experience doing that, and we want to watch that carefully."
(Ed. note: The Dutch also have 20+ years experience in their cannabis policy. But he can’t learn from that?)

Programs to treat addicts are more thorough in the Netherlands than in the United States, McCaffrey said. And Dutch treatment projects "also have a much higher rate of contact with addicts than we have," he added.

McCaffrey visited a pilot project in Rotterdam where heroin addicts in a supervised center receive free heroin in an effort to reduce drug-related crimes and reduce their exposure to HIV. But the general clearly disapproved of such projects, which are also under way in other European countries, including Switzerland and Germany.

Supplying heroin may reduce crimes and AIDS rates, he said, but the users remain addicts, marginalized from society and, perhaps, discouraged from joining methadone programs.