The Netherlands’ 1995 white paper Drug policy: continuity and change stated the basic principles of Dutch drug policy: a distinction between soft and hard drugs; a balanced and integrated approach; and four major objectives. These are: (1) to prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users; (2) to reduce harm to users; (3) to diminish public nuisance by drug users; and (4) to combat the production and trafficking of drugs. This white paper, which addressed only illegal drugs, was complemented by several specific strategies in the drug field: dismantling ecstasy production locations (2001); stopping cocaine trafficking by drug couriers using airplanes (2002); and dismantling large-scale cannabis cultivation (2004).
In 2011, the new government stated its intention to give a ’new impulse’ to the Dutch drug policy in a 'drug letter' (Drugsbrief). Among the foreseen changes are stricter rules for Coffeeshops.