Letter: Dutch success against drugs

Sir: Paul Vallely ("The puritans would purge the hippies", 19 June) claims: "Holland and Spain, which pioneered liberalisation, have found that a rise in the use of cocaine and heroin followed the decriminalisation of `soft' drugs." The opposite is true. The Dutch experiment of separating the hard and soft drug markets has been a success in reducing harm caused by drugs.

A Dutch government report, "Drugs Policy in the Netherlands" (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, 1995), which analyses drugs policy throughout the EU over the last 20 years, says Holland has the lowest rate of heroin addiction in Europe, the oldest addict population, and the lowest HIV infection. Surprisingly it also has lower levels of teenage cannabis use. Apparently, the "coffee shops serve a useful social function for young people, by acting as a buffer against the criminal underworld associated with hard drugs".

It does your correspondent no good to repeat the falsehoods of the prohibition lobby. I, sadly, expect Labour to repeat them, as Tony Blair and George Howarth have in recent months.

Dr STUART YOUNG

Edinburgh