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Even a gram of cannabis can make people dopey. If people smoke cannabis in Korea, they will be confined in prison immediately. However, people can smoke cannabis in the Netherlands, for they are legally allowed to carry 5g of it.
In 1976, the Netherlands legalized drugs for the first time. This law allows only soft drugs such as cannabis and mushrooms. Each person can carry up to 5g of cannabis, but people are allowed to smoke it only in assigned places. Surprisingly, the assigned places are "coffee shops". In the Netherlands, a coffee shop is a place where people can smoke cannabis, so if people want to drink coffee, they should go to a cafe, not a coffee shop.
Many people feared the legalization of drugs. However, the Dutch government thought that it could prevent addiction to hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine by easing the regulations on soft drugs.
The rate of the Netherlands is lower according to the survey conducted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in 2008.
In reality, the rate of people who have experienced cannabis in the European Union is 6.8%, but the rate of people who have experienced cannabis in the Netherlands is only 5.4%.
After the Netherlands legalized drugs, they also obtained another unexpected result. The number of drug offenders decreased because the Netherlands relaxed the regulations against drugs, so 8 prisons were closed. In addition, since the Netherlands has provided prison usage at cost to Belgium since 2009, they have earned 200 billion dollars every year.
In 2008, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws started a movement which nominated the Dutch government for the Nobel Peace Prize. They insisted that the Netherlands prevented some negative effects in their society by decriminalization of drugs.
Legalization of drugs in the Netherlands has caused positive effects in spite of the worries from other countries. However, many people still have lots of worries about cannabis addiction even though the number of drug offenders is decreasing. Since 2000, the Dutch government has strengthened the regulations on coffee shops because there has been a growing problem with rival drug gangs fighting to supply cannabis to coffee shops. Despite some positive effects, negative opinions about the regulation of drugs are also increasing in the Netherlands.