The Netherlands Experience
In the Netherlands, there are "coffee" shops that legally sell pre-rolled joints for about four Euros. They have glass cases and little cards describing the potency and characteristics of each type. Yet oddly, the Netherlands has lower marijuana use and lower drug use generally than either the USA or Canada. When I visited, I never saw people smoking in the streets, and the "coffee" shops were not exactly overflowing with customers.

The result is heroin and crack cocaine are very rare.

I suspect that the casual smoker never comes in contact with underworld pushers, and hence is never tempted to try the more dangerous drugs.

Obviously, nobody is avoiding smoking marijuana because they can't find any to buy. Prohibition is primarily making the drug trade more lucrative, not depressing consumption. 90% of American high school seniors report they can get cannabis easier than alcohol. This is because liquor sales are legal and regulated and marijuana sales are illegal and unregulated.

The side effects are the same as prohibition had, namely the rise of organised crime, adulterated product, and extreme gang violence.

It took the Americans 13 years to realise that prohibition was not working and they repealed it in 1933. Why are the Americans and the Canadians taking so much longer to come to their senses about marijuana prohibition?

The people who repealed prohibition were not just drunkards. They were also teetotalers who were sick do death of the side effects of prohibition.
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tommyd67 Reviewed by tommyd67 on . The Netherlands experience The Netherlands Experience In the Netherlands, there are "coffee" shops that legally sell pre-rolled joints for about four Euros. They have glass cases and little cards describing the potency and characteristics of each type. Yet oddly, the Netherlands has lower marijuana use and lower drug use generally than either the USA or Canada. When I visited, I never saw people smoking in the streets, and the "coffee" shops were not exactly overflowing with customers. The result is heroin and crack Rating: 5