Dutch Medical-Marijuana Policy Could Mark Start of Trend

9/10/2003

The Netherlands' decision to allow patients to obtain marijuana by prescription at a pharmacy is being greeted with interest, not rejection, by other European nations, Newsweek reports in its Sept. 15 international edition.

Under the Dutch policy, marijuana grown in state-sanctioned greenhouses will be sold by prescription to patients with chronic pain. The U.S. fears that the policy could lead other European countries to follow suit. Already, Britain, Belgium, and Luxembourg plan to follow the Netherlands and decriminalize marijuana for personal use.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in New York, said European countries may begin to break away from the drug war because America's approach to drugs and addiction is increasingly far from the European mainstream.

Experts said that Europeans are displeased with the Bush administration's anti-drug campaigns and its growing conservatism on social and cultural issues. They view U. S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as a right-wing, aggressive, anti-drug crusader.

"People are saying, you can't hold us to some treaties and choose the ones you do and don't want to adhere to," said Eugene Oscapella, a lawyer in Ottawa, Canada, who specializes in international drug issues. "There's a lot of skepticism about America and it's spilling into other realms, including drug policies."

The skepticism, experts said, could indicate that the global influence the U.S. drug war may be coming to an end.

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