Flying high

Each year, Dutch studies on drug use show broadly the same trends: students and foreign visitors make up two of the main drug-user groups. International students tick both boxes, but data on their behaviour is scarce. ‘Our response panels and surveys mostly target Dutch natives,’ explains Ton Nabben, a criminologist researching drug use at the UvA’s Bonger Institute. ‘But in recent years, we’ve been wondering more and more about the consumption of illegal substances within the international crowd. Coming to Amsterdam for the weekend and visiting a coffee shop is one thing, but what happens if you want cocaine and you don’t know where to get it but on the streets?’ There are obvious difficulties in researching people just passing through. ‘My guess is that international students get a good dose of experience in the Amsterdam drug scene. They’re a group that goes out a lot and likely behave the same way the Dutch do under those circumstances.’

Anyone who has visited Amsterdam’s international student residences would agree that some drugs are used: ‘The smell of marihuana from certain rooms is pretty much a given’ says a Residence Assistant. But for the vast majority of students, that’s about as wild as their drug use gets; even if that’s not to say there aren’t risks involved. ‘A friend spit blood after eating space cake from this one coffeeshop’, recounts Stephanie (21, economics & business from Germany). ‘Even with legal stuff it’s important to ask friends which shop has a good reputation.’