U.N. Drug Czar refuses to answer a simple question

I was at the small group Q & A when Costa was asked that same question and avoided it.
Update: This really is a telling video. Kudos to Frederick Polak, who respectfully, yet firmly and persistently, tried to get an answer to a very basic question: “If prohibition is the only way to contain the drug problem, how do you explain that the prevalence of cannabis use is lower or similar in the Netherlands than in many neighboring countries?”
Peter Sarosi reports that

Some NGO representatives on the other end gave a standing ovation to Mr. Costa when he left the hall (you can see the same people applauding his anti-coffee shop statements in our video). The celebration was initiated by the lapdogs of the U.S. and Swedish governments of course, like the European Cities Against Drugs, an international organization funded by the Swedish government to promote its drug policy, praising ‹treatmentŠ services in Russia notorious for chaining and humiliating drug users, or SUNDIAL, an ‹NGOŠ led by the former speechwriter of the American drug czar. Among them we found the representative of the Partnership for a Drug Free America as well, who advocates the idea that we can solve drug problems by forcing schoolchildren to piss to a flask, despite the growing evidence that school drug testing doesn‰t work at all.

Pretty amazing when you watch the video and hear these people applauding Costa’s obvious avoidance tactic. I mean, if you understand even the basics of English, it’s obvious that Costa was purposely not answering the question and refusing to allow it to be considered. And for that they applauded?
It’s almost as though they were sitting there thinking “Uh, oh, that druggie guy got nailed us good on that one — how will Costa respond? … Oh, excellent technique! You simply dodged it! Bravo!”