Mixed Messages from Europe on Drug Policy Reform: The Cases of Sweden and the Netherlands

Abstract

This article examines the variety of drug policy in operation within Europe by focusing on Sweden (relatively restrictive) and the Netherlands (relatively liberal) as casestudies. It analyses European data to produce an in-depth overview of the nature of the illegal drugs situation in both countries, focusing on both successes and areas that could be improved. Finally it appraises the appetite for drug policy reform in terms of (i) cannabis regulation and (ii) treaty reform in each country. The main conclusions suggest that there are no common indicators of success by which drug policies in general can be judged, and there is little agreement within Europe about whether or not we are in need of drug policy reform. It suggests that a successful global drug policy should celebrate diversity and should also seek to provide an international framework within which different global drug strategies can be evaluated."

Western and Central Europe: towards a cohesive model for drug policies?

“…The range of European drug policy models is often highlighted by reference to the Swedish and the Dutch examples, two countries at either ends of a continuum from a very punitive form of drug prohibition to the most tolerant (Chatwin, 2016). But there is more to European diversity than coffee shops in the Netherlands and a Swedish policy of zero tolerance.…”

A contemporary evaluation of Turkish drug-control policy

“…Although drug-control policy remains an issue controlled at the national, rather than the European, level, Turkey has adopted policies that separate drug dealers from users (Chatwin, 2015b). A major change in approach was the definition of drug use as an illness rather than an exclusively criminal act.…”

“…On the other hand, harm reduction as a policy domain has not received much attention because HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, diseases mostly associated with intravenous drug use through shared dirty needles, are not as widespread as in Europe or other parts of the world (Chatwin, 2015a;Kramer, 2015). According to national drug reports, a total of 7528 new HIV/AIDS cases were identified between 1985 and 2013 in Turkey, out of which only 174 cases occurred in injecting drug users.…”

After the Grand Fracture: Scenarios for the Collapse of the International Drug Control Regime

“…To use a familiar example, when the Netherlands (de facto) legalized retail cannabis sales, it attracted drug tourism from neighboring countries, including countries that at the time sought to prevent their citizens from obtaining easy access to cannabis (Chatwin 2015).…”