Western Europe has historically rejected America's "do drugs; do time" ideology in favor of more liberal policies defining drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal one.  Today, this trend is most widely manifested in European laws decriminalizing the possession and use of marijuana.  The following documents provide a comprehensive overview of marijuana and other drug laws throughout Europe.

European Drug Policy: 2002 Legislative Update
NORML Report
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5446

European Drug Policy: Analysis and Case Studies
NORML Report (1999)
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4415

Illicit Drug Use in the EU: Legislative Approaches (2005)
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.AttachmentDownload&nNodeID=10080&slanguageISO=EN

Legislative activity in the period 2000-2004 (2004)
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.AttachmentDownload&nNodeID=9936&slanguageISO=EN

Decriminalization in Europe: Recent Developments in Legal Approaches to Drug Use
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Report (2001)
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.AttachmentDownload&nNodeID=5741&slanguageISO=EN

EU Country Profiles
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.content&nNodeID=5174&sLanguageISO=EN

Trends in European Drug Laws: The Legal Status of Cannabis
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.Content&nNodeID=5769&sLanguageISO=EN

Medicinal Cannabis and Derivatives: A Legal Analysis of the Options, Their Limitations, and Current Practice in the EU
EMCDDA Report (2002)
http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.AttachmentDownload&nNodeID=5739&slanguageISO=EN

How the Law Is Changing Across Europe
UK Guardian Special Report (2001)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,531479,00.html

Drug Policy Around the World
Drug Policy Alliance Fact Sheet
http://www.drugpolicy.org/global

Think that US policy should be moving in a similar direction?  Then learn how you can take action.