Netherlands Country Drug Report 2019
Netherlands
Country Drug Report 2019
About this report
Sections
What are the long-term aims of drug policy in the Netherlands? How are these aims to be achieved? How is drug policy coordinated at national level?
Learn moreUnderstanding the costs of drug-related actions is an important aspect of policy evaluation.
Learn moreWhat substances and activities does the Netherlands control under its drug laws? What are the penalties for offences? How are new psychoactive substances controlled?
Learn moreHow many people in the Netherlands have ever used drugs? What drugs have they used? How many have used drugs recently? How many are using drugs in highly risky ways?
Learn moreWhat are the main infectious diseases linked to drug injecting in the Netherlands?
Learn moreHow many drug-related medical emergencies occurred in the Netherlands in the last year?
Learn moreHow many people died of drug overdoses or poisonings in the Netherlands in the last year?
Learn moreWhat part does prevention play in the Netherlands drug strategy. What are the main prevention approaches used in the country and who do they target?
Learn moreHow does the Netherlands measure in terms of provision of needle and syringe programmes, peer naloxone programmes, supervised drug consumption rooms and heroin-assisted treatment.
Learn moreHow is the drug treatment system organised in the Netherlands? How is it financed? How is the provision of treatment divided between inpatient and outpatient settings?
Which authorities are responsible for prison health in the Netherlands? What forms of drug treatment and harm reduction are provided in prisons, and how widely?
What is done in the Netherlands to ensure that the prevention and treatment interventions used are effective and provide a good return on public expenditure?
In which areas of study is drug-related research carried out in the Netherlands? How is this research funded? Are any types of research emphasised in the national drug strategy?
What is known about drug supply and trafficking in the Netherlands? How pure or strong are the drugs available? What do they cost? What are the main aims of supply reduction efforts?
Learn morePartners
About our partner in the Netherlands
The national focal point in the Netherlands is located within the National Drug Monitor, which was established in 1999 by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in order to evaluate and review registration and survey research data at the national level and to report these data to the Lower Chamber of Parliament, concerned ministries and other stakeholders both nationally and internationally. The national focal point is part of the Drug Monitoring and Policy Department of the Trimbos Institute, the national research institute for mental health care, addiction care and social work, which is tasked with informing policymakers and politicians about the mental health issues that concern the Dutch population. There is close collaboration with the Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Security and Justice.
Click here to learn more about our partner in the Netherlands.
Dutch national focal point
Trimbos Instituut
Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction
Da Costakade, 45 - P.O. BOX 725
3500 AS Utrecht
NL–The Netherlands
Tel. +31 30 297 11 86
Fax. +31 30 297 11 87
Head of national focal point: Ms Margriet van Laar
Additional resources submitted by our partner
Methodological note: Analysis of trends is based only on those countries providing sufficient data to describe changes over the period specified. The reader should also be aware that monitoring patterns and trends in a hidden and stigmatised behaviour like drug use is both practically and methodologically challenging. For this reason, multiple sources of data are used for the purposes of analysis in this report. Caution is therefore required in interpretation, in particular when countries are compared on any single measure. Detailed information on methodology and caveats and comments on the limitations in the information set available can be found in the EMCDDA Statistical Bulletin.
Additional note for the Netherlands: Data on number and quantity of seizures do not include all relevant law enforcement units and should be considered partial, minimum figures. Data for amphetamines, heroin and MDMA include seizures by Dutch Customs and the Royal Military Police, but do not include seizures by national or regional police forces. Cocaine seizures represent the majority of large seizures, comprising data from Dutch Customs (including Rotterdam and Vlissingen harbours), the Royal Military Police and the National Police Force, but regional police force data are not included. Cannabis data are limited to police seizures of plants, cuttings and tops seized during dismantlement of cultivation sites. Data on precursors (scheduled and non-scheduled substances) are based exclusively on reports of suspicious transactions of such substances to the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Unit.