[Ken H]

The US has a much higher rate of heroin addiction than the Netherlands. The Netherlands had 25,000¹ heroin addicts in 2000. With a population of 16M, it works out to a rate of ~0.16%. The US had 980,000 heroin addicts² in 2000. With a population of 280M, that's an addiction rate of ~0.35%, or more than TWICE that of the Netherlands!

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¹"In the Netherlands the total number of heroin addicts amounts to approximately 25,000."

http://opioids.com/heroin/holland.html

²"For example, numbers like heroin addiction. You can find numbers that go from 255,000 up to the one I'm currently using, 980,000, if I remember the last time we updated it, and those are all valid scientific studies."

--Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, Oct 4, 2000

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/symposium/panelmccaffrey.html

[Persevero]

Like I said, you can find what appear to be reputable studies to support both sides of the issue. That’s why I side with the ones that match my personal observations.