Dutch drug crackdown after suicide surge

17 October, 2008, 04:24

A campaign has been launched to educate young people on the dangers of drink and drug abuse in the Netherlands after concerns it’s responsible for a surge of suicides. Seven young people over the last three years have killed themselves in the northern Dutch province of Stede Broec.

Mayor Henk Eggermont is promising a tough fight and intends to get to the roots of the problem by hitting the classrooms. Students will be told of the dangers of alcohol and drug use, something teachers admit is a growing concern.

“It really is a problem. The youth in this area, but also in the rest of Holland, drink a lot at a very young age and also use drugs like ecstasy and cocaine sometimes,” says Cor De Vries, director of a local school.

It seems the first thing to tackle is how easy it is to get hold of drink and drugs. Teenager Alexandra Stewart admits: “I just have to go out on the streets and ask someone else to get it [drugs] for me”.

Indeed, the Netherlands is known for its openness towards many social activities but the country could now be feeling the negative consequences of this tolerant stance.

Some health experts disagree, though. They dismiss any problem with drink and drugs among young people and say the priority is providing information about the issue – something the Netherlands is successful in doing.

“Rules or strict rules are in fact not that important, it’s important people are informed very well,” believes Roe Keersmaeker.

Providing information is one thing – but it’s actually getting youngsters to listen which is the main concern. Officials in Holland are hoping to achieve this through their campaign and put a stop to the alarming student suicide.