title: Interpreting Dutch cannabis policy: reasoning by analogy in the legalization debate.
abstract: The Dutch depenalization and subsequent de facto legalization of cannabis since 1976 is used here to highlight the strengths and limitations of reasoning by analogy as a guide for projecting the effects of relaxing drug prohibitions. While the Dutch case and other analogies have flaws, they appear to converge in suggesting that reductions in criminal penalties have limited effects on drug use-at least for marijuana-but that commercial access is associated with growth in the drug-using population.
authors.affiliation: Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7320, USA. maccoun@socrates.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: MacCoun
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reuter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002188:Cannabis; D002648:Child; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs