Crime

Crime related to the production, trade and use of drugs is much more wide-spread than it is often thought to be, with crime figures being much higher than most people think. The annual report of the National Drug Monitor states that 1 in 8 non-suspended prison sentences imposed every year are related to offences against the Opium Act, with these sentences accounting for a quarter of the total prison time. The majority of the investigations into serious organized crime are drug-related cases, particularly concerned with the production and transport of drugs and trade in drugs*.
Added to this, it should be taken into account that if a person with a drug dependency problem commits theft, such an offence is hardly ever recorded as an offence against the Opium Act. More often than not it is simply recorded as theft. The same holds true for mutual liquidations of drug gangsters: these are likely to be recorded as murders. Furthermore, drug profits are partly 'reinvested' in, and therefore lead to other criminal activities.
All in all, it can safely be claimed that the prohibition of drugs causes around fifty per cent of total crime in our countries. On top of that, the ban on drugs is also a motor behind and a goldmine for terrorist-organizations and civil war. The SDB believes that policy changes are possible, necessary and urgent.

* Source: Voortgangsrapportage Drugsbeleid 2001-2002, Den Haag, Oct.2002, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports.