The Netherlands Drug Situation 2010 - Trimbos-instituut

In 2009 the preliminary Opium Act reports form 6.5% of the total number of reports,which is a bit less than the 6.8% in 2008. This means that Opium Act reports aremore or less in line with the general trend in recorded crimes in the Netherlands.Most arrestees for Opium Act offences are male. Most of the arrestees have morethan one criminal report. For 43%, the 2009 offence is the first registered offence(not in table).Table 9.1.2: Opium Act offences recorded by the Police Forces by drug type (hard-soft),2002-2009 I,II2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Hard drugs 9,338 10,843 12,035 11,084 10,978 10,682 9,524 7,400Soft drugs 4,593 5,912 7,433 8,274 7,973 7,860 7,555 7,544Hard and soft 1,222 1,389 2,105 2,157 2,708 2,801 2,717 1,717Other/unknown 637 733 696 380 349 93 56 7Total 15,790 18,877 22,269 21,895 22,008 21,436 19,852 16,668Hard drugs 59% 57% 54% 51% 50% 50% 48% 44%Soft drugs 29% 31% 33% 38% 36% 37% 38% 45%Hard and soft 8% 7% 9% 10% 12% 13% 14% 10%Other/unknown 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 0% 0% 0%TotalI 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 99% 100% 100%% drug related oftotal number of 6,3% 6,8% 7,5% 7,3% 7,3% 6,9% 6,8% 6,5%offencesI. More than one case may be recorded per suspect; percentages do not always add up to 100%. II. Due tochanges in information systems and underlying databases data 2009 have a preliminary character. Source:HKS, KLPD, 2010.Opium Act offences registered by the Public Prosecutor (table 9.1.3)The next phase in the criminal justice chain is the Public Prosecutor. The general trendhere appears to be one of decreasing absolute numbers of drug law offences, decreasingpercentages of hard drug cases and increasing percentages of soft drug cases. The Public Prosecutor handled more than 17 thousand Opium Act cases in 2009,which is less than in 2008 – this conclusion is tentative because of the preliminarycharacter of the data. The percentage of Opium Act cases of all offences is 7% in 2009. This fraction did notchange much in the last years, which means that trends in Opium Act offences followthe general trends in offences in the Netherlands. The decrease in drug cases in 2009 appears to be especially true for hard drug cases.Soft drug cases or hard and soft drugs cases combined decreased to a lesser extent. The percentage of hard drug cases is lower than that of soft drug cases in 2009. Softdrugs cases now form the majority. The majority of all drug law offences (60%) concerns production, trafficking or dealingof drugs, while 40% concerns possession of drugs (not in table). It is not knownfrom the figures how much of a drug was involved in the cases of ‘possession ofdrugs’. The general guideline for prosecution tells that, if possession concerns small123