In all aspects, the Netherlands has always been a very tolerant country. Nevertheless, there is a remarkable diminution going on in the Dutch liberty. For example, after the murder on politician Pim Fortuyn, who had a critical opinion on the Islamization of the Netherlands, ethnical tolerance became less. Also, the government wants to make more restrictions to the drugs policy. Now broadcasted on the TV is an advertising about a internet campaign to regain the high level of tolerance back in the Netherlands. And being tolerant is a good thing, because it will broaden your horizon when it comes to understanding other cultures and their habits and traditions. Compared to other countries, the Dutch law is still very tolerant on several policies. The Dutch people even have their own word for it, which is ‘gedogen’. There is not a real translation for this word, but it comes close to: limitation in consequence of acquiescence. In this chapter, we talk about some things that make the Netherlands such a tolerant country and the history of those topics.
Drug tolerance
What Holland does differently concerning drugs
Dutch government has decided to use the ‘gedogenbeleid’ ( tolerance policy), because according to them, it is more useful to focus on keeping the situation under control, instead of attaching all kinds of laws that often cause opposite results. So under controlled circumstances, the use of drugs is not prohibited. A recent change in the policy is the entrance of a weed card that only allows Dutch natives to buy marihuana in the shops. This law is only in its early stage and it may be possible that is has no future, because some politicians are afraid that it will increase the criminality on the streets.
While many other countries are against this policy and think that it will cause more harm to the public health, some other countries like France and Germany are inspired by the Dutch drug policy and want to introduce it in