The White Dog's sister restaurant in Amsterdam, Cafe Paradox, presents patrons a menu of fresh squeezed juices, teas, coffee, salads, soup, sandwiches, and desserts, along with a wide selection of marijuana and hashish. As part of our International Sister Restaurant program, which takes customers to countries at odds with US policies, a group of eight traveled to the Netherlands last spring for a study tour of Dutch drug policy. Open from 10am to 8pm, Cafe Paradox caters to a middle-aged clientele from the surrounding residential neighborhood. Our group, all over fifty, mostly sixty somethings, including a lawyer, doctor, and other professionals, felt comfortable in the bright and cheery cafe as our host explained the business of serving marijuana. Regulated much as we do alcohol, hash and marijuana may only be purchased from government licensed coffeeshops and retail stores, by those over 18, in quantities no greater than 5 grams. The sale of hard drugs is strictly forbidden and would result in the loss of the business. Although it is legal for licensed establishments to sell marijuana and hash, paradoxically it is still illegal for them to buy it. Legalization of the wholesale market has been opposed by Dutch conservatives who cite an international treaty originating in the 50's and fear U.S. reprisal. Although the police ignore the law and do nothing to stop the wholesale trade, the coffeeshops, which number over 1,000 nationally, are unable to get bank loans or insurance, and so remain marginalized as businesses.
During our study tour, interviews with professors, sociologists, psychologists, drug treatment counselors, and prison officials helped us understand the Dutch values underlying drug policy. Historically a colonial power and hub of international trade, the Dutch were exposed to many diverse cultures and developed a high tolerance for cultural differences. Although alcohol is the most popular drug of choice, as it is in all European societies, it is also recognized to be the most toxic and harmful, and thought to promote violent behavior. Alternatively, drugs originating in indigenous cultures from other parts of the world, such as marijuana, hashish, psychedelic mushrooms, opium and cocaine are seen to have relatively little toxicity, and have been used for centuries to create a peaceful, harmonious environment. It was pointed out to us that alcohol is complicit in over 95% of domestic abuse cases and has long been associated with dominator personalities and societies. Alcohol is banned from Dutch soccer games, while marijuana is not. Although hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin are illegal to buy and sell, recreational use is accepted by the police, with arrests only in the rare case of public nuisance, which usually involves a mix with alcohol. Hard drugs are losing popularity and heroin is totally unfashionable, with most remaining addicts well over 40 years of age. Drug abuse is considered a health problem, not a criminal problem, and all those seeking help to overcome addiction are provided with treatment, unlike the US which assists only a very small percentage of those who seek help, unless one has the finances for private care. The "harm reduction" philosophy behind Dutch laws contrasts sharply with the punitive basis of the US system, which imprisons more people on drug convictions alone than all of Europe does for every offense combined.
Despite US disinformation, the Netherlands, where drug use is decriminalized, has fewer users of all types of drugs than the US, where we spend billions on a "zero tolerance" policy. This is especially true among hard drug users where five times as many Americans have tried cocaine, and among younger teens where US teens 12 - 15 years old are twice as likely to use marijuana as Dutch teens. A sociologist informed us that Dutch school teachers are expected to be knowledgeable about drugs so that they remain credible with students, who are taught the facts about the risks of alcohol, nicotine and other drugs, and not indoctrinated with moralistic messages. Information on using marijuana, hash, and psychedelic mushrooms is distributed in retail stores called "smartshops," which also sell other herbal remedies for such ailments as depression and anxiety, and clerks assist customers in selecting the right product and explain its use.
At the heart of the Dutch philosophy is what they call an internal "locus of control." Children are taught from an early age that they are responsible for making the right choices concerning their own lives, rather than relying on regulations enforced by outside authorities such as parents, teachers, and police. While Americans pride ourselves on our freedom, many Dutch see the US as a police state, where citizens are subjected to routine searches of our suitcases, homes, cars, and persons, and undergo urine testing in our workplaces and schools. When watching the Dutch relax in Cafe Paradox, it is hard to imagine what the big fuss is all about.
