ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of incremental developments prior to the 1996–2003 period, showing the influence of international pressures, the developments in neighbouring countries, especially in the Netherlands, and the increasing visibility of the drug problem in Belgium. While the basic Belgian law relating to the traffic in toxic substances, hypnotics, narcotics, disinfectants, and anti-septics dates from 24 February 1921, the first incremental steps towards the development of a comprehensive Belgian drug policy were laid rather late. Since the beginning of the 1990s, drug use became more visible in certain (youth) cultures in Belgium. With the increased visibility of the drug problem in Belgian society from the beginning of the 1990s onwards, politicians gradually made it a political issue. During the twentieth century, the politically accepted and correct norm was to use harsh anti-drug language and the rhetoric of a drug-free world.
