Pot commercialization increases use
Washington (AP 10/3/97)

When Dutch police stopped arresting marijuana smokers in the 1970s, there was no change in the number of people using the drug. But when coffee shops starting selling it openly in the 1980s, pot use almost tripled, researchers report today.

A study in the journal Science suggests that the lack of criminal penalties for use and possession of small amounts of marijuana did not make the drug more attractive, but being able to buy it as easily as a cup of coffee leads to wider use.

"What the Dutch experience shows is that deciding not to throw drug users into prison is a very different issue from deciding to make commercial sales of the drugs available," said Robert MacCoun of the University of California, Berkeley, a co-author of the study.

Other experts cautioned that the Dutch and American cultures and attitudes toward drug use are so different that the experience in the Netherlands may not apply to the United States.