Marijuana Use Drops Among Dutch Youth
October 5, 2000
Amsterdam, Netherlands
According to a national survey of risk behavior among Dutch youth aged 10-18, marijuana use is on the decline for the first time in 16 years.
The survey, published every four years by the Netherlands Institute for Mental Health and Addiction, showed that 20 percent in that age group had used marijuana at least once, but less than 10 percent had smoked marijuana in the previous month. Among the youth who had smoked marijuana within the past month, a third said they had smoked two or more times a week. The survey also found that a third of the youthful marijuana smokers bought the marijuana from "coffee shops" which openly sell marijuana.
"While NO-RML discourages adolescent marijuana use, the 'Dutch model' of quasi-legalization appears to succeed in two areas where the U.S. policy fails miserably: per capita, fewer adolescents use marijuana in the Netherlands then in the U.S.; and the separation of marijuana from the distribution channels for 'hard' drugs such as cocaine, heroin or LSD."
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