In December 1999, we established a“sister” relationship with Paradox Cafe, in Amsterdam, and in May, 2000, led our first group of 8 White Dog customers on a study tour of Dutch drug policy. We returned again in May of 2001 with a second group. Paradox Cafe is bright and cheery and serves vegetarian food along with marijuana, catering largely to a middle-aged clientele from the surrounding quiet residential neighborhood.
The purpose of establishing a sister restaurant in Amsterdam is to study Dutch drug policy as an alternative to the failed US War on Drugs, which has turned the US into the world’s largest jailer. The Dutch view drug abuse as a health problem not a criminal problem. Choosing rehabilitation rather than punishment, and education rather than prohibition, the Netherlands has built a system based on values of tolerance, compassion, and self-discipline which has resulted in less violence and less drug use than the discriminatory, authoritarian and oppressive police state tactics in the US.
