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sibannac
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 02 Jun 2004
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 Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:05 am Post subject: What they should be targetin |
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Heres a story thats about the crack culture in the uk I found it on another site and thought i'd put it here for all to see!!
ITS FRIGHTENING
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Sunday July 18, 2004
The Observer
The stocky black man in the heavy trench coat with an orange bandana tied around his head appears for the third time in 20 minutes. His circuit takes him all the way around the base of the four-storey block of flats. Sometimes he lingers at the stairwell; sometimes he spends a few moments lurking in the shadows that hide him from the main road; all the time he is watching.
It's just after 11pm on Friday and the latest crack house to open on the sprawling Woodberry Down estate in Hackney, north London, is ready to trade. Straddling the Seven Sisters Road and consisting of 57 individual blocks, the estate is one of the most crack-infested areas of the country. Since the start of the year Hackney council, working alongside the Metropolitan police, has used the new anti-social behaviour legislation to shut down more than 100 crack houses, at least a dozen of them on the Woodberry.
Yet despite such radical action, which involves arresting the tenant and sealing off the property so that no one can enter for at least six months, residents say the problem remains as bad as ever.
'These places close down but a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of hours, later they open up somewhere else,' said one woman who asked not to be named. 'You can take away the supply but if the demand is still there the dealers will always have a reason to come back.'
The man in the bandana is lookout for a crack house in a two-bedroom flat on the top floor of the block. From the opposite walkway you can see that the door to the flat is wide open and only a security grille blocks the way to the outside world. Visitors are few. Some stay just long enough for a quick handshake through the bars; others are invited inside, through the stark white hallway and into the living room.
It is a scene being repeated across Britain. The use of crack cocaine is soaring to epidemic levels, fuelling a dramatic rise in violent street crime and driving the price down to a record low. Abuse of the drug has become so widespread that specialist police units targeting muggers, carjackers and petty criminals are arresting more crack addicts than heroin users. A study by the National Association of Probation Officers shows that crack users typically spend as much on drugs in a day as heroin addicts do in a week.
Experts say the shift in patterns of drug use has affected the types of crimes being committed on the street. Heroin addicts, previously identified as being responsible for most property-related crime, traditionally fund their habits through burglary, breaking into parked cars, shoplifting and credit card fraud. Crack, however, leaves heavy users edgy, paranoid and dangerously desperate. They are more likely to get involved in violent, opportunist crimes such as mugging, mobile phone theft and carjacking.
The problem is most acute in London, but Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Northampton have also recorded large increases in the numbers of users. There is also increasing evidence that the drug is spreading from its traditional user base, with addicts just as likely to be Asian, white or middle-class as to be black or working-class.
For those working with crack users, one worrying development is the fact that there has been an increase in casual use of the drug. Casual users, who may take crack only at weekends or a couple of times a month, rarely come into contact with the treatment system and are not counted among the official statistics.
'Crack is a difficult drug to control,' says Maggie Telfer of the Bristol Drugs Project, 'but there are some users who will binge once or twice a month, perhaps for an entire weekend, but not at any other time. They manage to keep their addiction under control to some degree, but most users will have difficulty doing this for long.
'In Bristol the number of users has remained fairly steady for the past five years since crack first arrived and the core users are those who also take heroin. Drugs tend to work in cycles and the worry is that in 10 years' time we will see another explosion of crack users.'
The use of crack on a casual basis falls outside most people's perception of the power of the drug but seems to be increasingly common. One user, writing on a forum for the crackcocaineincamden.co.uk website, which exposes the actions of local dealers, notes: 'I myself have been a crack user for quite a few years. I was brought up very well and never had to want for anything. I was exposed to crack by an ex-boyfriend in my late teens. Not everyone is the same and not all situations are the same. Not every crackhead robs and steals. Not every crackhead sells their body for their addiction. Not all crackheads are the ignorant and underprivileged. I've seen many people who are addicted and hold down a job, have families, even own businesses. The consequences are the same for everyone, though. And it depends on how far you let your addiction take you.'
Overall drug seizures in England and Wales rose by 10 per cent in 2003, but the amount of crack cocaine seized during the same period more than doubled. While a recent estimate suggested there were around 45,000 crack users in London alone, most drug workers believe the true figure is far higher. Earlier this year the Metropolitan police revealed that cocaine seizures in the capital had rocketed 400 per cent in the last year, from 96kg to 360kg.
Prostitution, long associated with the use of heroin, is now being fuelled by crack. One prostitute, Leanne, told The Observer : 'A couple of years back when I started on the game, all the girls were on brown, nothing else. Then the dealers starting selling what they called 'party packs' - a bag of smack and two free rocks. We all got hooked but, surprise surprise, once we did, the rocks started costing money. Now the only time people take brown is to help them come down.'
Much of the crack trade is controlled by Yardie barons, many of whom come from Jamaica. One, Michael, said he was making £5,000 a week selling crack in Bristol before being arrested and deported to Kingston, Jamaica.
'I used to hang around in the Black and White Cafe in Bristol with a few guys I knew from Jamaica. Some of them used to sell stuff on the front line. The first time I went on the line, I bought just an ounce of black hash. I didn't want to get too deep. But within the space of an hour, that was sold out and I bought two more ounces and went back on the line. I just double my money in an hour. At the end of that first night I went home with about two ounces of black, an ounce of weed and £300 in my pocket.
'So I say to myself, yeah, a few hours and I get this! Come on, I'm going to do this full-time. And now a bit of greed got caught up in me. I said to myself, why not sell some cocaine? The first time I bought a sixteenth of an ounce, the smallest portion, for 150 quid. I got on the line at 5pm and the first man that came up to me five minutes later bought four grams. In the space of 10 minutes it was all sold out and I had made £150 on my £150.
'Then I started cooking crack and selling that. And that was the best business of all. The cash comes in so fast you don't know what to do with it all. I was making money, making money - four, five thousand a week. I had a flash car, flash clothes, flashy girls all over the place.'
The Woodberry Down estate, one of several visited by The Observer as part of its investigation into the growth of the crack trade, is not an easy place for strangers to blend in. Roads that look as though they lead somewhere turn out to be dead ends, forcing a retreat along the same path. Non-residents stick out a mile and more often than not are treated with grave suspicion.
That is why this and other estates are the perfect places to open up crack houses. According to a recent report by the Greater London Authority, there are three main types of crack house. The first is the fortified retail outlet which may also double as a crack factory. Here, doors are reinforced with steel bars to give the occupants as much time as possible to dispose of any evidence in the event of a police raid. Such crack houses are usually the most obvious and therefore the most heavily targeted.
Then there are houses that have been taken over by dealers. The occupants are either elderly, mentally ill or simply too scared to resist. Some flats are owned by ex-addicts who have kicked the crack habit but are forced back into addiction by others. Like the property on the Woodberry, such flats may have good-quality furniture and fittings, at least to begin with, and blend in with their surroundings.
The final type is the one which doubles as a brothel and allows users to exchange sexual services for drugs. All crack houses have the advantage of allowing users to smoke in a social set ting and of being available when regular street dealers are not.
Yet while supporting the move to close as many crack houses as possible - last year the Met shut down 512 and this year it aims to top 600 - experts warn that the strategy may have only short-term benefits.
According to the GLA report: 'Illicit drug markets are resistant to policing. Many buyers are intensely motivated to buy and sellers are equally motivated by profit. Research has identified various adaptations to, and perverse effects of, policing strategies. The most frequent response to policing is displacement - over place, time or mode of operation... Open markets tend to be transformed into closed ones by policing operations, or else are relocated. Where the police are successful in arresting sellers, this often results in substitution, where often someone who previously worked at a lower level in the process replaces the seller. In other words, policing can create promotion opportunities.'
Crack houses are already changing the way they operate as a result of greater use of the new legislation. They generally carry far less stock than before (the last raid on the Woodberry Down estate resulted in only a single rock being seized) and are supplied regularly by drivers who patrol the streets, holding sufficient stock for dozens of houses. The Met plans to target these vehicles with a new squad later in the year.
In the meantime, the focus remains on treatment. A spokesman for Turning Point, the national charity dealing with drug, alcohol and mental health problems, said it believed crack use was spreading dramatically.
'One of the problems is that users of crack cocaine tend to see treatment services as being suitable for heroin users but not for them. After all, there is no substitute drug like methadone that can be offered to them so they feel they have little to gain. We are developing new strategies to roll out across the country to try to encourage crack users to come in and use our services.'
Attracting crack users to treatment centres is one thing; ensuring the facilities are there for them is quite another.
Last month a criminal justice think-tank published a report which found that a shortage of residential drug treatment centres is leaving thousands of addicts without vital rehabilitation and undermining efforts to cut crime. The Rethinking Crime and Punishment group found there were up to half a million 'problem' drug users in England and Wales, but fewer than 2,000 places in residential treatment centres. Many addicts faced long waits for places at the centres, with some waiting up to eight months. Many were deterred from seeking help and were continuing to commit crimes, often ending up in prison.
Others support a more radical view. John Messiter, who runs the crackcocaine incamden.co.uk site, agrees there has been a dramatic improvement in King's Cross since the use of antisocial behaviour legislation to close houses but says big problems remain elsewhere.
'Long term, we need a thorough and bold review of our drugs laws. Much of the harm from drug abuse comes from the criminality associated with it - the violence of dealers, the acquisitive crime of users, and the hazards of a product of unknown quality and purity.
'I don't accept that legalisation would be the cure-all solution that some claim. But then, I don't believe an easy answer exists. For me, it is a question of finding the least worst alternative, and I don't think that's what we have currently.'
Crack facts
There are an estimated 200,000 regular users of crack cocaine in the UK. A further 475,000 are believed to be addicted to powder cocaine.
The vast majority of drug users in the UK are white, but some studies say African-Caribbean communities use crack at the same level or slightly above that of white and Asian communities.
Deaths from cocaine-related overdoses have doubled in the past five years and are now at record levels. Deaths rose from 96 in 2001 to 139 in 2002, the biggest year-on-year rise for five years.
The effects of crack are similar to those of cocaine, although the 'hit' is more intense, does not last as long and is far harder to control. As well as losing their appetite, users often experience a feeling of well-being and confidence, as well as an indifference to pain and fatigue.
While heroin users can be given methadone to control their cravings, no such substitute exists for crack cocaine.
What the experts say:
Mike Trace
Former deputy drug tsar. Now chief executive of the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust
'Crack cocaine is here to stay. My advice to policy-makers is not to concentrate on eradication. They should focus on the impact and harm the drugs have on our communities. That means responding to concerns about antisocial behaviour and offering accessible and effective treatment to those who become addicted.'
Maureen Lynch
Mothers Against Guns
'There's a strong connection between the increase in crack cocaine and the increased use of guns. Many of the killings are all about protecting turf and territory. No one group can solve this problem on their own. The police, the parents, the population and the politicians have to work together. We have to protect the vulnerable ones who get hooked and then find themselves being controlled by the drugs barons. The big guns rarely touch the drugs; they just take the money.'
Megan Jones
Head of community safety and drugs at Camden council
'In Camden we have a team who go out on to the streets to work with addicts. However, people with addictive drug problems and compulsive behaviour are generally unwilling to take up treatment so enforcement measures such as the anti-social behaviour order can help. In the long term, an important solution must be to reduce the social exclusion.'
Danny Kushlick
Director, Transform Drug Policy Foundation
'Crack is a product of prohibition. In the illegal market place, concentrated high-potency versions of drugs are easier to traffic and provide dealers with the highest levels of profit. Paradoxically, policing can make things worse - creating instability among drug gangs, leading to turf wars and raising the price so users commit more acquisitive crime. The long-term solution is to legalise coca-based products and make them available through regulated outlets.'
Ian Blair
Deputy Metropolitan Police commissioner
'Disrupting the supply of class A drugs such as crack is a priority. Partnership is the key to success and a London-wide strategy will be an effective tool in the fight to end the misery caused by class A drug supply and addiction.'
Peter Stoker
Director, National Drug Prevention Alliance
'Social factors may have kick-started crack but it is now spreading. The increase is almost entirely due to the lack of a proper preventive approach. We seem to be content to pick someone up when they have fallen over but less keen to prevent them falling over in the first place.' |
Its SAD to see my home town of northampton featuring in this article. I have friends who work as security guards in the local shopping centre who are constantly arresting crackeads for shop lifting or mugging and they appear back on the streets within hrs to continue their crime spree.
In fact he has had threats made to him had blood wiped on him by men and women but as soon as they see him out of uniform and just walking down the street they RUN like frightened sheep.
 
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Rev. Chazman
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 15 Nov 2003
Posts: 1403
Location: Illinois - USA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:06 am Post subject: |
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| What they should be targetin |
I agree. This is a real demon drug. They need to focus a lot more on ending this sort of problem instead of peaceful Cannabis use.
Peace
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I praise good thoughts, good words, and good deeds and those that are to be thought, spoken, and done. I do accept all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. I do renounce all evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds. ---Avesta: Yasna
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Rev. Rodger L. Poole
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Im not here! Im where things HAPPEN.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:32 am Post subject: |
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You are both assuming that making and keeping this drug illegal and enforcing it will resolve the problem. It sure doesnt seem to be that way now, and its illegal and enforced. Making it against the law to put ANYTHING into your body is B>S>......im sorry to say that includes crack. We have alot of rights, including the right to mess up our life. Instead of legislation, i propose education. Teach young people about the real consequences of drug ABUSE not drug USE.
Everyone knows what crack does to you, but people do it anyway. they know its illegal and self destructive, they just dont care. Making something illegal doesnt prevent you from doing it. We are a perfect example of that. Prohibition is another good example.
You know what i think should be made illegal? Tobacco. Alcohol. Drugs that REALLY DO kill people. Tobacco and alcohol are the first drugs used by our young people when they first start to experiment, but how come no one's calling them "gateway drugs"? Because they are multi billion dollar corporations who contribute to candidates, and pay hundreds of millions of tax dollars. Even tho i HATE these drugs, you should and do have the right to use them all you want.
These drugs are addictive, and destructive...more so than Cannabis could ever be! Its time we started taking this blindfold off of our eyes when it comes to legalization. If drugs are legal, there is no black market to profiteer off of good citizens who simply have a different drug of choice. Of course thats just my opinion, i could be wrong.
Rodger |
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Rev. Rodger L. Poole
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Im not here! Im where things HAPPEN.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:40 am Post subject: |
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just a little factoid:
Since 1970 or so , when the "Drug War" began...Heroin is 5 times cheaper, and 600 times more pure TODAY than it was THEN. Remind me what their goal was? You can get it in any town, for $4-6 a blast. Cheaper than a 6 pack, and easier for the average teenager to get. Making drugs illegal helps us HOW? It seems it doesnt help at all. It only creates problems, and creates criminal to run the black market for something that shouldnt even be illegal in the first place. Welcome to Crazyworld.  |
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sibannac
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 02 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:14 am Post subject: |
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On the point of education in the UK there is no excuse for not knowing that crack and heroin are addictive killers EVERYONE KNOWS IT!!! I have absolutely NO sympaphy for anyone taking these poisins its personal choice when all is said and done and caouldn't give a damn if someone wants to slowly kill themselves with these poisins I do take OFFENCE when they rob steal burgle and mug to feed their problems and if giving them the crap will stop this then fine give it to them. Just stop their selfish actions impacting on me and my family i have warned all the lowlife within my area DO NOT ATTEMPT to burgle my home or mug any members of my family or they WILL be dealt with by me and not the police, upto now its worked.
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Slide
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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| sibannac wrote: |
| they WILL be dealt with by me and not the police, upto now its worked. |
That's generally my approach. Even though in my religion people often quote the "turn the other cheek" thing. That, in my opinion, refers more to insults than physical violence. When Jesus was in the garden as they were coming to take him the deciples asked, "Should we draw our swords." It is clear to me that they were packing and that quite possibly they had had to defend themselves before as bandits have always been with us.
I have family members that can't put down the crack pipe. It is a sad thing. They try and try but eventually the urge overcomes their will power.
It's a shame that in my country you can not get access to that african root , I can't remember the name - it starts with an I as I recall, that relieves the craving for cocaine and herion.
Last edited by Slide on Mon Jul 19, 2004 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Lilli
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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I have a loved one in my family that was bound to crack addiction for 17 yrs and overcame it with cannabis. That is somthing the officals should also be thinking of.
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Rev. Chazman
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 15 Nov 2003
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Location: Illinois - USA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Rev. Rodger L. Poole wrote: |
You are both assuming that making and keeping this drug illegal and enforcing it will resolve the problem. It sure doesnt seem to be that way now, and its illegal and enforced. Making it against the law to put ANYTHING into your body is B>S>......im sorry to say that includes crack. We have alot of rights, including the right to mess up our life. Instead of legislation, i propose education. Teach young people about the real consequences of drug ABUSE not drug USE.
Everyone knows what crack does to you, but people do it anyway. they know its illegal and self destructive, they just dont care. Making something illegal doesnt prevent you from doing it. We are a perfect example of that. Prohibition is another good example.
You know what i think should be made illegal? Tobacco. Alcohol.
Rodger |
Well... you say
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| Making it against the law to put ANYTHING into your body is B>S>......im sorry to say that includes crack. We have alot of rights, including the right to mess up our life. Instead of legislation, i propose education. |
I agree education is important. But I disagree about the rights thing here.. These drugs DONT only harm the ones taking them. Because these folks strung out on crack etc. are killing other people to get money for their habbit. They are stealing, mugging, prostituting and killing all for a fix. This doesnt compare with OUR situation in my opinion. Cannabis doesnt harm you, doesnt make you go kill somebody for a little  money.. Not the same at all.
You say..
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Everyone knows what crack does to you, but people do it anyway. they know its illegal and self destructive, they just dont care. Making something illegal doesnt prevent you from doing it. We are a perfect example of that. Prohibition is another good example.
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Indeed, everyone does know.. And yes they still do it. Which in effect defeats your 'let them do what they want to themselves, but educate them' idea. Because they already do know, yet they continue.. These harmful drugs do things to people that make them do things they wouldnt normaly do. No, education is to keep new people from trying them(hopefully) the ones on them will only be helped by manditory drug programs or some other solution I think.
I am disapointed that you then say "Making something illegal doesnt prevent you from doing it. We are a perfect example of that. Prohibition is another good example." .. while I agree that its true, its not the same thing in the case of Cannabis users. I mean come on if you dont see the difference between Cannabis and these more harmfull drugs.. then you are giving the win to the government propaganda mongers out there who have been saying this for a long time.
You have to see the diffference.. Right? I mean when is the last time you felt the need to kill somebody to get the money for a ? Its my hope that your answer to that is NEVER.. like the rest of us. 
You say..
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| You know what i think should be made illegal? Tobacco. Alcohol. |
In this I totaly agree with you. Ive said this for some time myself. If the power to make this decision for the world fell into my lap today... Thats probably what I would do.
Anyway just thought id add my dos pennies on the subject.
Peace
_________________
I praise good thoughts, good words, and good deeds and those that are to be thought, spoken, and done. I do accept all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. I do renounce all evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds. ---Avesta: Yasna
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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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All the murdering, stealing, criminallity would not be there if those drugs would be legal. This does not mean they should be easely available and I do believe in regulation and harm reduction but with creating criminals we do not have a solution for the problem.
The biggest problems with crack, heroine, cocaine and all other illegal drugs come from them being illegal and the criminality this creates.
cars would kill millions more people if we did not regulate "traffic", Do we make "traffic" illegal because it's dangerous? No, we have regulated it to reduce harm, same should be done with drugs. I do not have the answers on how to do this, but I know there are scientists who do if they were only listened to.
Drugs are expencive because the are illegal, people steal for drugs because they are illegal, people kill echother for drugs because they are illegal, people form criminal organisations because drugs are illegal, This whole "illegal" has brought us nothing but misery, the war on drugs brings nothing but misery too.
It's time to get sivilized and end this criminal stupidity.
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Slide
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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Ferre,
Isn't the use of cocaine and herion actually lower per capita in the Netherlands than the US? |
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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it is illegal or not. In fact, in the Netherlands all personal use of any drug is legal and this doesn't make us a nation of crackheads, instead we have around the lowest stats in the world for drug use/per head. Criminalizing people for something that has been human nature and in our culture everywhere on the planet for as long as we exist is not only stupid (we all see the results) but it violates human rights big time.
This world is up for a better solution, the present one works reverse.
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Rev. Rodger L. Poole
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Im not here! Im where things HAPPEN.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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Right on Ferre!
The ironic hyporisy of the situation is staggering. The government isnt saying dont do drugs, they are saying use the drugs we tell you. That will never stop people from getting what they want. Sometimes I feel like im taking crazy pills or something because its like no one sees what im talking about.
The government regulates alcohol and tobacco, both drugs. They arent just condoned, mind you ...they are REGULATED by them. They are in charge of drugs in this country. So, as long as they are in charge of drugs, they will be telling you what drugs to use, and which ones you arent allowed to use. My point is that the government doesnt have the right to tell me not to use something, no matter what the reason is.
The similarity that exists between all drug users is that we are breaking an inane law. I personally believe that heroin users have the same right to fuck themselves up as i do to get high. Anything less is just BS.
I dont believe my "dont legislate , educate" argument is defeated by any means. We have spent far too much time doing one, and neglecting the other. Give my idea equal time in this country, then we can decide I guess. We've done the law thing, it not only isnt working, its making it worse. when you make something illegal, you are creating a black market for whatever it is. This drives the price up, which make people steal, commit violence, etc. to get what they need. Legalization is no panacea by any means.
Methodist Episcopal Church Review on the subject of drink. Championing prohibition in 1890, the Rev. J. D. Peterson argued, "while we have temperate drinkers we shall ever be infested with drunkards, for the latter are manufactured from the former."
This is true, and it will always be true about every drug on the face of the Earth that has the potential for abuse. As long as there is something self destructive, there will be a person who will want to do it anyway, no matter what. Instead of taking away rights, we should be educating our young people about the realities, not the myths, of drugs. And let them know what constitutes the difference between drug USE and drug ABUSE. Teach them that they have alot of rights, including the right to ruin their life. Instead, choose to live a fun, happy, SAFE life.Teach them that if they do use a recreational drug, to do so in a safe and responsible manner like the rest of us. And if they dont, what those real world consequences are.
And as far as the argument that heroin addicts affect the lives of people around them for the worst.....Well, that is true. So do alcoholics, but alcohol is still legal, and its no reason to make it illegal. We are responsible for our own behavior and our own choices, not the US Govt.
You cannot legislate responsibility. |
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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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Location: Amsterdam
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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Well, THC Ministry is a member of ENCOD, the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, You can find some very useful information from scientists and other experts on the "drugs laws" issue on their website:
http://www.encod.org/
http://www.encod.org/agendae.htm
Anyone who is involved, and looking at it from the people's angle comes to the same conclusion; We need harm reduction and the "war on drugs" is exactly the opposite!
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Slide
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 11 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:54 am Post subject: |
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I think prohibition tends to increase the use of drugs. It happened with alcohol in the 20's. I think a comparison of the aproach to drugs and their use between the US and the Nethelands highlights some of these differences. The usage difference of course can not be put totally to prohibition but by having canabis available in legal shops does seperate much of the mixing of "product lines".
A interesting comparison can be found here. This information comes from "Source: Abraham, Manja D., University of Amsterdam, Centre for Drug Research, Places of Drug Purchase in The Netherlands (Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, September 1999), pp. 1-5."
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm |
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