What is the impact of the different drug policies of England and Wales and the Netherlands on their respective levels of offending?
The Netherlands, in relation to soft drugs, adopts a social/welfare policy. Their drug policy is concerned with the health and safety of users. England and Wales take a criminal approach in their hard and soft drug policies. It may be thought that because England and Wales criminalise all drugs that this drives drug users underground, and that this in turn leads to higher levels of offending. There are many criminal justice polices in both countries which can influence their respective levels of offending, yet various factors can affect the statistics.
The soft drug policy in the Netherlands is the opposite of Britain's, decriminalization, meaning that it is classified as a summary offence rather than an indictable offence. 'Harm reduction' has been the guiding principle in defining the drug laws in the Netherlands. …
