Smart Policies for Smart Products and Ecodrugs?

Abstract

During the second half of the 1990s, the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and other ‘natural’ products have gained popularity in the Netherlands and elsewhere. This demand was met with a quick response from commercial markets. One component of this trend was the opening of smart shops – venues selling legal and predominantly ‘natural’ products. In this article the demand and supply side as well as the applicable law and regulatory strategies concerning this new trend are explored. The issues discussed include the following: what are smart shops and what products do they offer; and what are the health and social risks involved in the use of these products? Following this, current Dutch policy strategy with regard to this new trend is described. The current approach is based on the interface between drug policy, public health, consumer protection and pharmaceutical policy. This approach is based on the outcome of a health and social risks assessment by the Working Party on Smart Shops (1998) which concluded that these shops and their products do not currently pose major health or social risks. Nevertheless, the emergence of this new trend was thought to require the development of a policy that is based on reliable information, innovative prevention attempts and close monitoring. Whether this tolerant policy will continue much longer is now at issue, however, for a proposed scheduling of hallucinogenic mushrooms on the Opium Act in the near future could, if implemented, bring about significant change.