VZCZCXRO9502
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTC #0226/01 0371510
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061510Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8111
INFO RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, INL/T, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI 
ONDCP FOR CSISSON 
DOJ FOR OIA 
DEA HQS FOR OEE, OIE 
HHS FOR SAMHSA - KHENNESSEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PINS PREL SOCI NL
SUBJECT: US-NETHERLANDS DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION MEETING 
 
¶1. Summary. The January 25-26 U.S. - Dutch workshop on demand 
reduction efforts advanced bilateral cooperation on drug demand 
reduction and drug abuse prevention.  Led by Robert Denniston, the 
Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's 
(ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, the U.S. delegation 
included representation from ONDCP, Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the National Institute 
on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The Dutch delegation included representation 
from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, the Netherlands 
Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), and the 
Trimbos Institute (a research center for mental health care, 
addiction care, and social work).  Participants agreed that the 
bilateral cooperation was producing positive results for sharing 
scientific and demand reduction information and identified 
possibilities for future collaboration.  Media interviews by 
Denniston resulted in positive press coverage of the U.S. approach 
to significantly curbing drug use among youth.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
 
¶2. The July 2005 statement of cooperation signed by ONDCP Director 
Walters and Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Hoogervorst 
confirmed the U.S. and Dutch commitment to share best practices and 
joint research into drug addiction and demand reduction.  Since 
then, several meetings and video conferences between U.S. and Dutch 
researchers have advanced this collaboration.  The January 25 and 26 
experts' meeting in Amsterdam provided an opportunity for more 
detailed discussions on drug use monitoring methodologies, anti-drug 
media campaigns, research between NIDA and ZonMw, and areas for 
future collaboration on drug demand reduction related efforts. 
 
Meeting Discussions 
 
¶3. The first day's discussion centered on drug use monitoring and 
evidence based database systems and interventions.  The discussion 
on monitoring focused on U.S. and Dutch methods of measuring and 
analyzing drug-related deaths as well as trends and perceived risks 
of drug use among youth.  The work group on evidence-based database 
systems and interventions presented and discussed three different 
systems currently in development: the National Registry of 
Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP,) the Library of 
Systematic Reviews (LSR) (both SAMHSA projects), as well as Trimbos' 
Evidence-Based Electronic Library for Drugs and Addition (EELDA). 
[Note: NREPP is a database used for identifying and disseminating 
evidence-based interventions.  LSR will present the best evidence 
from systematic reviews of relevant drug research.  EELDA is a 
website which will provide the most important evidence-based 
information on drugs and addiction. End Note.]  The Trimbos 
Institute and ONDCP presented their respective substance abuse 
related media campaigns on the second day of the meeting. The 
presented Trimbos campaign focused on underage drinking. Both 
campaigns utilize television ads and Internet websites as methods of 
reaching their target populations. The Dutch were very interested in 
the U.S. experience with such mass media campaigns and advanced 
research efforts to stay current in the field in order to target 
youth anti-drug messages. 
 
Agreed Areas for Focus 
 
¶4. The monitoring methodologies work group agreed to exchange 
definitions, measurement tools, and research articles. 
Additionally, the U.S. delegation extended an invitation to the 
Dutch to consider presenting a 'current situation report' on the 
drug situation in the Netherlands at NIDA's Community Epidemiology 
Work Group (CEWG) meeting in June 2007 or January 2008.  The 
evidence-based systems and interventions group agreed to explore 
possibilities for an exchange of information on programs listed in 
NREPP which the Dutch consider interesting for implementation in the 
Netherlands.  An exchange on "lessons learned" in the implementation 
of NREPP and the Library of Systematic Reviews is also under 
consideration. The U.S. delegation offered to host a visit to enable 
the Dutch to meet with key organizations in the U.S.  Additionally, 
both sides agreed to discussion of future information exchanges on 
methodologies used in developing mass media campaigns.  In the final 
session, the participants agreed on several topics for further 
exploration: an exchange of visiting researchers between NIDA and 
TRIMBOS; an exchange of senior leaders of service organizations; 
additional experts' meetings with other interested parties, and a 
youth-to-youth exchange.  The U.S. delegation also offered to host a 
Fall 2007 E-health workshop to follow-up on previous plans to 
collaborate on short treatment interventions and the possible 
development of prevention interventions on the Internet. 
 
 
THE HAGUE 00000226  002 OF 002 
 
 
Areas Needing Clarification 
 
¶5. The Dutch delegation expressed an interest in U.S. assistance 
with the next steps in EELDA development. In response, the U.S. 
requested a list of specific proposals from the Dutch for review and 
consideration.  Additionally, the Dutch suggested an exchange of 
peer review services, but as this would be a resource-heavy 
endeavor, the U.S. delegation was hesitant to commit to specific 
activities at this time.  Both sides agreed to explore the 
possibility of linking to each others' systems; this will require 
review from each side to ensure the other's content is appropriate 
for such linkage. 
 
Positive Press Coverage 
 
¶6. Robert Denniston gave two media interviews on USG youth demand 
reduction programs on January 24.  The resulting coverage was very 
positive.  NRC Handelsblad (circ. 229,823), an influential liberal 
paper and the leading daily in the Netherlands, published a lengthy 
story entitled, "High People Don't Get Off the Couch," that detailed 
ONDCP's shift from strong anti-drug messages to campaigns noting the 
negative social effects of abusing drugs, and the use of 
advertisements on the internet and MTV to reach younger audiences. 
The article also noted recent successes detailed in the Monitoring 
the Future (MTF) study, and included the websites of MTF 
(www.monitoringthefuture.org) as well as ONDCP's Above the Influence 
campaign (www.abovetheinfluence.com).  NRC republished the article 
in its morning edition, NRC Next (circ. 65,000), which is targeted 
toward younger readers.  A second story ran in Nederland Dagblad 
(circ. 32,440), a conservative Christian daily newspaper and focused 
on Denniston's responses to questions regarding the role of parents, 
faith-based organizations, and peer influence on youth drug use. 
The story summarized the reduction in drug use noted in the MTF 
report, and highlighted the cooperation between ONDCP and the 
Dutch. 
 
¶7. Comment.  The meetings were successful in paving the way to 
further cooperation.  Immediate next steps include sharing reports, 
and individual researcher visits to conferences, followed by broader 
dialogue between all parties on e-Health.  End Comment. 
 
Arnall