One-quarter of population notice drug-related issues in own neighbourhood

The Safety Monitor 2019 is based on a survey conducted among 135 thousand Dutch residents aged 15 years and over. They were asked questions about drug-related nuisance they have encountered in their own neighbourhood.

Drug use or trafficking mainly in large cities

At the lowest regional level, the Dutch national police force consists of 167 frontline teams. Between the different frontline team regions, the share of people who encounter drug use or trafficking in their neighbourhood varies greatly, ranging from 14.1 percent in the region of Groningen-Zuid to 78.8 percent in Centrum-Burgwallen, Amsterdam-Noord. The Centrum-Jordaan region also has a relatively high incidence of drug use or dealing, with 59.7 percent of the residents stating they have noticed this. In addition, 40 to 50 percent of the residents in seven other frontline team regions around Amsterdam indicate they have noticed drug-related issues in their neighbourhood. These regions are located in the eastern, western as well as in the southern part of Amsterdam.

Aside from Amsterdam, drug use or trafficking has an above-average prevalence in the The Hague frontline team regions of Jan Hendrikstraat (51.4 percent), De Heemstraat (50 percent) and Hoefkade (52.4 percent). In Rotterdam, a lot of drug use or dealing is reported in the regions Centrum (54.4 percent), Delfshaven (61.8 percent), Rotterdam-Zuid Charlois (49.9 percent) and Feijenoord (49.1 percent). In Utrecht, these regions are Utrecht-Noord (44.6 percent) and Utrecht-Zuid (42.0 percent).

Drug use or trafficking also encountered more frequently in border regions

Residents of regions that border with Germany and Belgium are more likely than average to encounter drug use or dealing. Half of the inhabitants in the frontline team region of Kerkrade indicate that this occurs in their neighbourhood.

In the regions of Heerlen and Maastricht, 4 in 10 residents report noticing drug-related issues.

Drug-related nuisance most prevalent in Amsterdam

In frontline team regions where relatively many residents report drug-related activities, the experienced nuisance is also greater. For example, the Amsterdam region Centrum-Burgwallen is not only the place where drug use or trafficking occurs most frequently, but also the place where residents are most likely to experience a lot of nuisance: more than one-quarter (27 percent) of the residents aged 15 years and over indicate this, almost seven times more than the average across the Netherlands (3.9 percent).

With a share of 15.9 percent, the Amsterdam region of Zuidoost-Bijlmermeer suffers from relatively great drug-related nuisance. The same holds true for De Heemstraat (15.6 percent) and Hoefkade (17.2 percent) in the centre of The Hague, and Delfshaven (16.5 percent), Centrum (14.3 percent) and Feijenoord (15.2 percent) in Rotterdam.

Opinions about quality of life more negative when experiencing drug-related nuisance

Nearly half (46 percent) of the inhabitants of the Netherlands aged 15 years and over who experience a lot of drug-related nuisance also indicate that the quality of life in their neighbourhood has deteriorated over the past twelve months. This share is four times higher than among residents who experience little or no nuisance (11.9 percent). The national average stands at 13.2 percent.

People who notice drug-related issues are also more likely to report other forms of nuisance, such as street harassment, drunk people on the streets and loitering youth. 24.2 percent of those experiencing a lot of drug-related nuisance say that this problem should be tackled first. This is 1.4 percent among people who experience little or no nuisance.