The cost and apparent failure of America's "war on drugs" has intensified the debate regarding an alternative approach. The Dutch government supports peaceful approaches to drug problems and opposes the concept of a war on drugs. Marijuana use has declined in the Netherlands in the context of a relaxation of law enforcement in the 1970's. Several formal debates on the Dutch and American drug policies have produced increased knowledge and a growing understanding of the specific problems the two countries are facing. The revelation of facts and figures is best proof against the drug war propaganda. The alternative to the current drug propaganda is undistorted information: the benefits of drugs as well as their costs and dangers, the fact that the majority of people use drugs moderately, and the conditions under which drug use is relatively safe as well as the conditions under which it is risky. Good drug policy is based on scientific data, not myths, ideology, and propaganda. 9 references.