The Dutch Cannabis Debate, 1968–1976

• Date: 01 July 1994
• Author: Marcel de Kort
• DOI: 10.1177/002204269402400304
• Published date: 01 July 1994
• Subject Matter: Article

The Journal

of

Drug Issues

24(3),417-427

1994

THE DUTCH CANNABIS DEBATE, 1968-1976

Marcel de Kort

Today's

Dutch

drug

policy has

acquired

the

reputation

of

standing

outside

the

international

mainstream

of

drug

control.

One

of the most

eye-catching

aspects

of the

revision

of the

Dutch

Opium

Act in 1976 has been the de

facto

decriminalization

of

cannabis

in

small

amounts.

Nowadays

the use of

and

small-scale

dealing

in

cannabis

has

become

normalized.

This

process

of

normalization

is

widely

seen as a

"model"

for a

revision

of

European

drug

policies.

However,

in this

article

the

conclusion

is

reached

that

this

process

should

not be

considered

as a

"model."

When

we

examine

the

arguments,

points

of

contention,

andpolicy

alternatives

discussed

within

the

Dutch

ministries

between

1968 and1976, it

becomes

clearthat the de facto

decriminalization

of soft

drugs

was

more

the

result

of the

absence

of

policy,

and of a

belated

adaptation

to

already

existing

circumstances,

than

of any

rational,

well-considered

action.

In

1976 the Dutch Opium Act was revised. Among the most significant and

talked about aspects of the changes made, and of the "deviant" drug policies in the

Netherlands in general, has been the de facto decriminalization of cannabis in

small amounts. The amending of this law, however, was no unique event. A

number of states in the USA were taking steps to distinguish "hard" from "soft

drugs," and in virtually all Western countries controversy raged on the reform of

narcotics legislation. This period of "lenience" from roughly 1968 to 1976 now lies

far behind us. The Dutch policy on soft drugs has remained exceptional in that, in

the period subsequent to 1976, small-scale

dealing

in hash and marijuana has

slowly but surely become tolerated in practice. This policy of toleration resulted in

the institution

of

house dealers in youth centres during the late 1970s, and in the

emergence

of

the so-called coffeeshops in the 1980s. Today the cannabis debate in

many European countries has yet to subside, while in the Netherlands the

discussion on the legal status of soft drugs is now being revived. 1

The public debate in the Netherlands on the cannabis issue and the

characteristics of government policy since 1976 have been extensively detailed

elsewhere.2Less well-documented are the debates that took place at policy-

making levels of the national government between 1968 and 1976, and which

eventually resulted in the "self-willed," lenient approach to soft drugs. The aim of

this article is therefore to examine arguments, points of contention, and policy

alternatives that were under discussion within the concerned ministries during this

Marcel de Kort. is a social historian. He is currently preparing his doctoral thesis at Erasmus University in

Rotterdamon the history of drug policy in the Netherlands. He was co-author of a book on drug trade and control and

publishedseveral articles on thehistory of drug use. drug trade, and drug policy. Send reprint requests to Marcelde

Kort, Facultyof Historyand the Science of Art. ErasmusUniversity Rotterdam. P.O.Box 1738.3000 DR Rotterdam,

The Netherlands.

©Journal of Drug Issues, Inc. 002-0426/94/03/417-427 $1.00

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