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This drugs policy has never been amended. It means that the government's role is to prevent young people in particular from unthinkingly starting to use drugs without knowing enough about them or under the influence of other people, and to make medical and/or social assistance available to drug users with problems, in order to alleviate their plight (harm reduction). .
On the basis of scientific criteria, legislation in the Netherlands distinguishes between drugs which present an unacceptable risk to health and cannabis products, the risks arising from which are considered less serious (i.e. between hard and soft drugs). The Dutch view is that the interests which have to be protected by the criminal law are primarily health interests. In the Netherlands drugs policy is therefore differentiated according to the seriousness of the potential damage to health which may be caused by the use or abuse of the drug in question. .
Addicts of marijuana are regarded as patients rather than criminals. Accordingly, a comprehensive, differentiated set of preventive measures and care facilities has been established. The judicial authorities have always followed the principle that drug addicts should undergo medical treatment rather than serve a custodial sentence. Despite the sometimes disappointing results of treatment and/or the recidivism that occurs, this standpoint has been firmly adhered to and new ways of putting it into practice have constantly been sought. .
Dutch policy on drug addicts aims to limit the risks and damage caused by drugs and so to ensure the integration of drug users in society. Prevention, out-patient care and residential care are all in the hands of experts who work within professionally managed organisations.
As elsewhere, however, drugs policy in the Netherlands is also aimed at raising the threshold for the use of hard drugs as much as possible by the strict use of the criminal law.
