These days, strolling from Amsterdam Central Station down the Zeedijk towards Nieuwmarkt, it’s hard to imagine how this neatly maintained, hyper-touristic street was once the epicentre of Europe’s heaviest heroin epidemic. Towards the end of the 1970’s, you probably would have avoided this area. Unless, of course, you had been a junkie. In which case, this would have been your Disneyland: the ultimate spot to secure your next shot.
Text Aron Friedman
It’s been a while since heroin junkies were flocking the streets of Amsterdam. They’ve gone extinct – not only as a figure of speech, but also literally in many cases. In the late 70’s, the Dutch capital had around 10,000 heroin addicts. As you may understand, this caused an enormous pressure on public health and security: crime, prostitution, drug casualties, homeless people and used needles in the streets were the order of the day. Nowadays, it’s almost unfathomable how all these people could get addicted. By now, we all have knowledge about the great risks of heroin use. But when the substance was introduced in the Netherlands in 1972, most people had no idea of its devastating effects.
Nobody could have predicted what was about to happen in Amsterdam during the magical 60’s. The progressive atmosphere and the lenient drug laws attracted hippies from all over the world. Colorful, long-haired youngsters were flocking the city’s youth hostels, squares and parks. The cops turned a blind eye to cannabis use, and the penalties for drug trafficking were much lower than in surrounding countries. As a graduation present, many parents in the US would give their teenage sons and daughters a trip to Europe. Amsterdam was one of their favorite places to go. Mostly, they would flock around the Vondelpark, where they’d sing, dance and get high day and night.
Binnen Bantammerstraat
Opium (technically a mild version of heroin) had been around in Amsterdam since the 50’s. But it was mostly used by a small Chinese population around the Red Light District. There was an opium den on Binnen Bantammerstraat, where a handful of elderly Chinese men would suck on their opium pipes. It was such a small group, that the police just left them alone. Then slowly but surely, jazz musicians and artists started getting into the drug. It became so popular that the cops raided a couple of places.
Around the same time, Chinese gangsters arrived in Amsterdam, carrying kilos of heroin. Their drug cartels had prospered in Asia by dealing heroin to American soldiers in Vietnam, who used it to suppress their emotions and fears. But as the war was about to end, the cartels were keen on shifting their activities to cities in Europe. With its easy-going drug policy, Amsterdam was a viable candidate. Just as they arrived, the Chinese gangsters were able to fill the opium shortage, created by the raids. Right from the start, they had a group of loyal customers at their disposal.
nitially, they would give out heroin for free to recruit as many new clients as possible. There were even accounts of people getting free heroin in their mailbox. With such a high risk of addiction, that was a pretty good investment. The hippies at the Vondelpark were also keen on experimenting with new highs. The group of daily users was steadily growing, just like the power of the cartels. Street dealers from Suriname became a vital link in the heroin trade. Throughout the 70’s, many Surinamese people migrated to the Netherlands to start a new life. On arrival, they felt all but welcome, and finding a job was much harder than they had imagined. Dealing drugs was a quick way to make a buck. The area around Zeedijk was the best place to connect with tourists who had just arrived.
Before heroin left its devastating mark on Amsterdam, drugs had never been seen as life threatening. Maybe by religious groups and conservatives, who were echoing the anti-drug lobby from the States. But among young people, particularly hippies, psychedelics were extremely popular, and they mostly brought pleasure and mind-expansion. That’s why heroin was initially met with naivety, as yet another interesting high. Injecting drugs must have been a turn-off to most. But it also must have had an appeal to some as a cool novelty. No one was prepared for the misery that it had in store for most. Not even the Surinam dealers, who were smoking it eventually, but who became addicted eventually.
Suriname dealers at the Zeedijk.
The tough thing about a heroin addiction is that you quickly become physically dependent. As soon as it wears off, you start feeling anxious, restless and ill. The easiest answer to that horrible feeling is a new dose. The craving becomes so strong, you’ll do anything to make it stop. The tricky part is that you never know how pure your heroin really is, which makes it easy to overdose. That’s how hordes of drug tourists, coming to Amsterdam for a bit of fun, never returned. They would start stealing to provide for their expensive hobby, or they’d get into serious debts with criminals, some of them paying for their addiction with their life.
In and around bars like Emil’s Place and Babelou on Zeedijk, tons of drugs were trafficked and consumed. The street became an area where you wouldn’t be caught dead, even during the day. If you were looking for heroin, you were at risk of being cheated, threatened or mugged. The police weren’t able to meet the challenge of this extreme rise in crime and addiction. Muggings, overdoses and stabbings became a daily reality. At some point, neighbors were even handing out pamphlets, declaring Zeedijk a ‘calamity zone.’
Doemaar drummer stole from a fan to buy heroin.
The tough thing about a heroin addiction is that you quickly become physically dependent. As soon as it wears off, you start feeling anxious, restless and ill. The easiest answer to that horrible feeling is a new dose. The craving becomes so strong, you’ll do anything to make it stop. The tricky part is that you never know how pure your heroin really is, which makes it easy to overdose. That’s how hordes of drug tourists, coming to Amsterdam for a bit of fun, never returned. They would start stealing to provide for their expensive hobby, or they’d get into serious debts with criminals, some of them paying for their addiction with their life.
In and around bars like Emil’s Place and Babelou on Zeedijk, tons of drugs were trafficked and consumed. The street became an area where you wouldn’t be caught dead, even during the day. If you were looking for heroin, you were at risk of being cheated, threatened or mugged. The police weren’t able to meet the challenge of this extreme rise in crime and addiction. Muggings, overdoses and stabbings became a daily reality. At some point, neighbors were even handing out pamphlets, declaring Zeedijk a ‘calamity zone.’
The heroin epidemic lasted well into the 80’s. By that time, many of the junkies had died of an overdose, or of the AIDS epidemic, which wreaked havoc through infected needles. At some point, heroin started losing its appeal – in great part because of the deplorable state many junkies were in. It got the bad reputation it still has to this day. Drugs like cocaine and XTC became popular. A small group of heroin addicts kept using for another few decades, but due to their unhealthy lifestyle, they wouldn’t live long. Others have gone into rehab and have kicked the habit. Of the 10,000 users at the peak of the epidemic, only a handful is still using it. In recent years, heroin has become more widely used again in the US. But Holland doesn’t seem to have caught on to that trend. Maybe the memories of the grim 70’s are still too vivid here.