Recent methodological advances (evolutionary factor analysis, discourse network analysis, etc.) have re-invigorated interest in the study of policy frames and discourses. In this paper we study the changing policy frames surrounding Dutch soft drugs policy. The Dutch case is especially interesting not only because the Netherlands was the first country to (de facto) legalize soft drugs possession in the early 1970s, but also because the policy has experienced significant changes towards more stringent control in the last few years. The discursive and normative context of the policy has also been under transformation with increasing salience of cross-border effects and transnational crime issues. We identify all articles published in several major newspapers in the Netherlands as well as all Parliamentary discussions on the topic of soft drugs (cannabis in particular), we analyze and classify the claims and arguments put forward in these texts, and collect information on the actors making the. On the basis of this data we are able to trace the overall attention to the topic over the last 40 years and the tone of the debate. Using evolutionary factor analysis we also show the rise and decline of different policy frames and explore their relationship with the policy outcomes.
