Drug policy has been on the agenda here at the Lowy Institute, with Dr Alex Wodak of the Alcohol and Drug Service at Sydney's St Vincent’s Hospital recently presenting on the effects of global prohibition.
Today, Netherlands-based writer and Interpreter reader Prashanth Shanmugan has been in touch to alert me to a related story: FOX News' Bill O'Reilly recently used his top-rating show to attack proposals to loosen drug laws. He called the Netherlands a 'disaster' and one of his guests described Amsterdam as a 'cesspool', thanks in part to Holland's liberal drug laws.
Two Amsterdam film-makers decided to respond with a 90-second video about their city. It went viral, and Prashanth wrote up the story for the Holland Times.