Lighting Up In Amsterdam
By JOHN TIERNEY
AMSTERDAM - Arjan Roskam, the creator of the award-winning marijuana blend named
''Arjan's Haze,'' has dozens of pictures of celebrity visitors on the
wall of his coffee shop in Amsterdam. He's got Eminem, Lenny Kravitz,
Alicia Keys, Mike Tyson -- but so far, unfortunately, not a single
White House drug czar.
The czars have preferred to criticize from afar. In the past, they've
called Dutch drug policy ''an unmitigated disaster,'' bemoaning
Amsterdam's ''stoned zombies'' and its streets cluttered with
''junkies.'' Anti-pot passion has only increased in the Bush
administration, which has made it a priority to combat marijuana.
More than half a million Americans are arrested annually for possessing
it. The Bush administration can't even abide it being used for medical
purposes by the terminally ill. Why risk having any of it fall into the
hands of young people who could turn into potheads, crack addicts and
junkies?
But if America's drug warriors came here, they would learn something
even if they didn't sample any of the dozens of varieties of marijuana
sold legally in specially licensed coffee shops. They could see that
the patrons puffing on joints generally don't look any more zombielike
than the crowd at an American bar -- or, for that matter, a
Congressional subcommittee listening to a lecture on the evils of
marijuana.
And if they talked to Peter Cohen, a Dutch researcher who has been
studying drug use for a quarter-century, they would discover something
even more disorienting. Even though marijuana has been widely available
since the 1970's, enough to corrupt a couple of generations, the
Netherlands has not succumbed to reefer madness.
The Dutch generally use drugs less than Americans do, according to
national surveys in both countries (and these surveys might understate
Americans' drug usage, since respondents are less likely to admit
illegal behavior). More Americans than Dutch reported having tried
marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Among teenagers who'd tried marijuana,
Americans were more likely to be regular users.
In a comparison of Amsterdam with another liberal port city, San
Francisco, Cohen and other researchers found that people in San
Francisco were nearly twice as likely to have tried marijuana. Cohen
isn't sure exactly what cultural and economic factors account for the
different usage patterns in America and the Netherlands, but he's
confident he can rule out one explanation.
''Drug policy is irrelevant,'' says Cohen, the former director of the
Center for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam. It's quite
logical, he says, to theorize that outlawing drugs would have an
impact, but experience shows otherwise, both in America and in some
European countries with stricter laws than the Netherlands but no less
drug use.
The good news about drugs, Cohen says, is that the differences among
countries aren't all that important -- levels of addiction are
generally low in America as well as in Europe. The bad news is that the
occasional drug fad get hyped into a crisis that leads to bad laws.
''Prohibition does not reduce drug use, but it does have other
impacts,'' he says. ''It takes up an enormous amount of police time and
generates large possibilities for criminal income.''
In the Netherlands, that income goes instead to coffee-shop owners and
to the government, which exacts heavy taxes. It also imposes strict
regulations on what goes on in the coffee shop, including who can be
served (no minors) and how much can be sold (five grams to a customer).
Any unruly behavior or public disturbances can quickly close down a
shop.
To avoid problems at the Green House, Roskam has closed-circuit cameras
and a staff that urges novices to stick with small doses, and to
protect their lungs by taking hits from a vaporizer. Unlike street
buyers in America, customers know exactly what strength they're
getting, which is especially useful for the hundreds of people with
multiple sclerosis and other ailments who use his marijuana medicinally.
Roskam sneers at the street products in the United States, which he
considers overpriced and badly blended. But he acknowledges there's one
feature in the American market he can't compete with.
''Drugs are just less interesting here,'' he said. ''One of my best
friends here never smoked cannabis, never wanted to even try my
products. Then when she was 32 she went to America on holiday and
smoked for the first time. I asked her why, and she said: 'It was more
fun over there. It was illegal.' ''
.gif){kind=logo}