Editing Drug policy of the Netherlands (section)

== Drug law enforcement ==
Importing and exporting of any classified drug is a serious offence. The penalty can run up to 12 to 16 years if it is hard drug trade, maximum 4 years for import or export of large quantities of cannabis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eldd.emcdda.europa.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.content&sLanguageISO=EN&nNodeID=5174 |title=ELDD : Country profiles, Netherlands |publisher=Eldd.emcdda.europa.eu |access-date=2011-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702034241/http://eldd.emcdda.europa.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.content&sLanguageISO=EN&nNodeID=5174 |archive-date=2008-07-02 }}</ref> It is prohibited to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of any drug that affects driving ability to such an extent that you are unable to drive properly. (Section 8 of the 1994 Road Traffic Act section 1). The Dutch police have the right to do a drug test if they suspect influenced driving. For example, anybody involved in a traffic accident may be tested. Causing an accident that inflicts bodily harm, while under influence of any drug, is seen as a crime that may be punished by up to 3 years in prison (9 years in case of a fatal accident). Suspension of driving license is also normal in such a case (maximum 5 years).<ref>[http://eldd.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_5737_EN_Drugs_and_driving.pdf EMCDDA: Drugs and driving, page 9, June 2003] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511230702/http://eldd.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_5737_EN_Drugs_and_driving.pdf |date=11 May 2013 }}</ref> [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol]] has long practiced a [[zero tolerance]] policy regarding airline passengers carrying drugs. In 2006 there were 20,769 drug crimes registered by public prosecutors and 4,392 persons received an unconditional prison sentence<ref name="nationalR">[[EMCDDA]]. [http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index61221EN.html National report 2007: Netherlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005192428/http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index61221EN.html |date=5 October 2008 }}</ref> The rate of imprisonment for drug crimes is about the same as in [[Sweden]], which has a [[zero tolerance]] policy for drug crimes.<ref>[http://www.kriminalvarden.se/upload/Informationsmaterial/Basic%20Facts%2007.pdf The Swedish Prison and Probation Service in Basic Facts, 2007 pp. 20–21] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911000811/http://www.kriminalvarden.se/upload/Informationsmaterial/Basic%20Facts%2007.pdf |date=2008-09-11 }}. Drugs/goods trafficking: 21,6% of a total number of 10,428 imprisoned in 2006.</ref>
[[File:Bolletjes.jpg|thumb|left|[[X-ray]] of a [[balloon swallower]] trafficking [[cocaine]]]]
Despite the high priority given by the Dutch government to fighting illegal drug trafficking, the Netherlands continue to be an important transit point for drugs entering Europe. The Netherlands is a major producer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/wdr07/seizures_lab.pdf |title=UNODC: Seizures laboratories |page=7 |access-date=2011-04-20 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225730/http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/wdr07/seizures_lab.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and leading distributor of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]], [[heroin]], [[cocaine]], [[amphetamines]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.justitie.nl/currenttopics/pressreleases/achives2004/Report-on-Dutch-drugs-market-submitted-to-the-Lower-House.aspx |title=Report on Dutch drugs market submitted to the Lower House, 2004 |publisher=English.justitie.nl |date=2004-10-25 |access-date=2011-04-20 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211172020/http://english.justitie.nl/currenttopics/pressreleases/achives2004/Report-on-Dutch-drugs-market-submitted-to-the-Lower-House.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html |title=World Drug report 2007, page 131 |publisher=UNODC |access-date=2011-04-20 |archive-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107205536/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and other synthetic drugs, and a medium consumer of illicit drugs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trouw.nl/hetnieuws/europa/article851704.ece/Europa_snuift_steeds_meer_lijntjes_coke|title=Cookies op Trouw.nl|access-date=2007-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123233558/http://www.trouw.nl/hetnieuws/europa/article851704.ece/Europa_snuift_steeds_meer_lijntjes_coke|archive-date=2007-11-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite the crackdown by [[Interpol]] on traffic and illicit manufacture of [[temazepam]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interpol.int/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_6681FD32DA3214A4804D1836FCA2A454C3E50B00/filename/agn69r01.pdf|title=Interpol Annual Report - Temazepam|website=interpol.int|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109180937/http://www.interpol.int/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_6681FD32DA3214A4804D1836FCA2A454C3E50B00/filename/agn69r01.pdf|archive-date=2014-01-09|access-date=21 August 2010}}</ref> the country has also become a major exporter of illicit temazepam of the jelly variety, trafficking it to the [[United Kingdom]] and other European nations.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/05/theobserver.uknews6 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Deaths soar as Dutch drugs flood in | date=5 September 1999 | access-date=1 May 2010 | first=Alex | last=Bell}}</ref> The government has intensified cooperation with neighbouring countries and stepped up border controls. In recent years, it also introduced so-called 100% checks and body scans at [[Schiphol]] Airport on incoming flights from Dutch overseas territories [[Aruba]] and [[Netherlands Antilles]] to prevent importing cocaine by means of swallowing balloons by [[Mule (smuggling)|mules]].

Although drug use, as opposed to [[illegal drug trade|trafficking]], is seen primarily as a public health issue, responsibility for drug policy is shared by both the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports, and the Ministry of Justice.

The Netherlands spends more than €130 million annually on facilities for addicts, of which about fifty percent goes to drug addicts. The Netherlands has extensive demand reduction programs, reaching about ninety percent of the country's 25,000 to 28,000 hard drug users. The number of hard drug addicts has stabilized in the past few years and their average age has risen to 38 years, which is generally seen as a positive trend. Notably, the number of drug-related deaths in the country remains amongst the lowest in Europe as of 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index64151EN.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/12090/20081219145852/http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/annual-report/2008 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2008 |title=page 84 |publisher=Emcdda.europa.eu |date=2009-09-01 |access-date=2011-04-20 }}</ref>

On 27 November 2003, the Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner announced that his government was considering rules under which coffeeshops would only be allowed to sell soft drugs to Dutch residents in order to satisfy both European neighbors' concerns about the influx of drugs from the Netherlands, as well as those of Netherlands border town residents unhappy with the influx of "[[Drug tourism|drug tourists]]" from elsewhere in Europe. The [[European Court of Justice]] ruled in December 2010 that Dutch authorities can ban coffeeshops from selling cannabis to foreigners. The EU court said the southern Dutch city of [[Maastricht]] was within its rights when it introduced a "weed passport" in 2005 to prevent foreigners from entering cafés that sell cannabis.<ref>[http://www.eurad.net/hXGXCmxdLYX0.4.idium EURAD: Dutch authorities can ban coffeeshops from selling marijuana to foreigners] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In 2010 the owner of Netherlands's largest cannabis selling coffeeshop was fined 10 million euros for breaking drug laws by keeping more than the tolerated amount of cannabis in the shop. He was also sentenced to a 16-week prison term.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8587576.stm |title=Dutch coffeeshop fined 10m euros for breaking drug law |publisher=BBC News |date=2010-03-25 |access-date=2011-04-20 |archive-date=11 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811072846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8587576.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>