Drugsbeleid, vergelijking USA & Nederland (Engels)

Drugs? Use the Dutch law! Why does the government tell adults with full mental capacity that they have the right to do whatever they want with their body, but that the usage of drugs* is illegal? Please, give me one good reason why drugs should be illegal. I search for reasons all the time, but I could never find good ones. Of course, I could find a few reasons, but there are so many other things that have the same effects, that I think that the reasons are invalid. Drugs are bad for your body and it is addicting, so it is illegal. Why are hamburgers not illegal? And alcohol? They are bad for your body and they are addicting too. Drugs could have negative effects while your driving, your concentration could decline. Well, I can tell you, when I eat to much hamburgers I feel really sick and I can not concentrate either, and I am not able to drive. If I drink alcohol and I drive the car it is also extremely dangerous. Still I can get alcohol everywhere! You can get addicted to drugs, I think cigarettes and alcohol are drugs as well. They are legal, but marijuana/ cannabis are illegal. Did you know the fact that if you drink too much alcohol it is even more harmful than using drugs such as marijuana and cannabis too much? Again, I can get alcohol on almost every counter of the street. Surprising, isn't? The government wants to protect their citizens, but then they should prohibit all the bad, addicting stuff, not just one! Personally I do not even think that the government has the right to make drugs illegal. An adult is smart enough to choose whether he wants to use (soft)drugs or not. Okay, of course you will need to have good laws to make it work. You do not want it to bother the society, and you do not want it to affect their freedom and their wellbeing. I think that The United States should use The Netherlands as an example to make new laws and make it work. As you may know, the little country which is located in North Western Europe has accepted the usage of soft drugs. Did you know that number of people that die because of drugs, (According to a research of the Dutch political group the VVD) is in The Netherlands 0,4 of 100.000 people and that in the United States it is a number of 4,6 out of the 100.000 people? That is more than eleven times more! Being a citizen of The Netherlands, I also know how it works in the daily life, so I know what I'm talking about. When people think about The Netherlands and Amsterdam, they always think about drugs. However, it does not work like that. Dutch people are not stoned all day. In fact, when you visit Amsterdam or another city in The Netherlands, you will see that the greater part of drug users are tourists. Actually, I only tried it once. That was because my friends told me that I had to try it: ''Lisa, you are moving to The States, how can you ever tell them: I'm from the Netherlands and I never had a joint.'' So, I tried. Well, considering that fact, it proves again that not all people are using drugs daily. It is not that attractive if it is legal to use it. Also people certainly know what the consequences are when they use it, and they definitely take it to consideration. I think that people should choose for themselves whether or not they want to use drugs, if they want to damage their body and themselves, it is their responsibility, and their choice. As long as you do not bother other people with your addiction there is no problem at all! I totally agree with the sentence that Gore Vidal wrote in his essay about drugs in 'The brief bedford reader' on page 385: ''Every man, however, has the power (and should have the legal right) to kill himself if he chooses.'' The Dutch laws about drugs are clear. The government tries to reduce the risks for the addicts and for the people around them and the society. There are a lot of help programs for addicts. The law makes a big difference between hard drugs and soft drugs, which I think is perfect. Soft drugs do not affect the people around them and the society that much, because you can not use the drugs in public. Only at the special 'coffee shops' or at home. In addition to this, you can only carry a maximum of five grams with you at the same time. Soft drugs are bad for your heart and lungs, but this is the same with regular cigarettes. Also, there is a lower chance of psychological addiction, and again cannabis is less harmful and less addicting than alcohol and cigarettes. In contrast to the legislation of soft drugs, hard drugs are illegal. Which I also agree with. The usage of hard drugs do affect your free will and also the freedom of the people around the addicts and the society. The only thing hard drug addicts are living for, are their drugs; they are definitely addicted and they have the same pressure everyday; their addiction. Because of addiction, there is a chance that they could put themselves into a dark existence. There are so many negative consequences, for example; addicts who turn into criminals. Because this does affect the society, a government can not accept this. I think it is good a good idea that the government controls the sale of the drugs, so that a buyer knows that what (s)he gets is not trash. Also, I would like to put a big tax on drugs-sale and from the taxes the government receives, they create a good social security, so that addicts get good maintenance and also the healthcare in the USA is going to be improved. If you compare the law from the United States with the law from The Netherlands, I factually think the Dutch law is better. There is no problem at all with soft drugs being legal. You have to have a clear law and there should not be any hindrance for the society and non-users. No using in public for example. Also there are more drugs users in the United States than in The Netherlands, which proves that legal drugs turns out to be more positive. In addition to this you need to inform your citizens about the consequences of using drugs, because now everyone is denying it, and that is unacceptable! *If I talk about drugs, I mean 'soft' drugs (known as hashish and marijuana) because there is a big difference between soft and 'hard' drugs (such as cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine). (1176 words) Work cited page: 1 The Brief Bedford Reader, page 385, Essay from Gore Vidal

2 Homepage: www.vvd.nl