Modern society is facing many problems. One of the biggest problems is drugs, or at least we think so. United States has become the world leader in fighting drugs. Ever since President Nixon our laws have been tougher but does that mean that the number of people using it has decreased or that number of people selling it decreased. Well neither one is true and there are many reasons why. One of the reasons is our approach to drugs and the way we deal with it. .
According to (Cedro article p.2) "the number of the drugs offenders imprisoned in the U.S. has increased 800% since 1980, and that made the U.S. achieve the highest imprisonment rate in the industrialized world". This fact alone shows that our current system does not work and that something else must be done. Browsing thru internet I remembered Amsterdam. That city is world famous for the approach on drugs that it has taken. It's a little crazy but it's working. Their numbers are significantly down. "Users under the age of 22 dropped from 14.4 percent to 1.6%." (Amsterdam p.1) Amsterdam is a city of 727,000 and total of 5,100 hard drug users. I must say those are good numbers. Would the Amsterdam model be a useful government response to hallucinogen and marijuana use in this country? Why or why not? Amsterdam's coffee shops and cafes are worldwide known for the tolerated exchange of hashish and marijuana. The United States drug policy stands by the zero tolerance rules. Our drug culture does not believe in any such thing as a use of an illegal drug, only abuse. So, why aren't the Dutch facing as many drug related problems as we are? Is a more laissez-faire approach to drugs the answer? We aren't winning the war on drugs. It is clear that the illegal drug use and drug related problems have increased in the United States. .
I think that the Amsterdam model may act as a useful government response to drug use in the United States.