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Singapore, Indonesia and many other Asian countries have more draconian drug laws than the USA. Their drug usage and crime and rates are far lower than the US,

Singapore, Indonesia and many other Asian countries have more draconian drug laws than the USA. Their drug usage and crime and rates are far lower than the US, Portugal, Netherlands, Canada and other countries with more lenient drug laws.

6stringmerc 11y ago
Caveat to your statement: Reported usage and crime rates. How many of the Asian countries you mentioned have a free and robust press industry that investigates government claims without fear of retribution? I'm of the opinion none, none you mentioned. Therefore I question the validity of your statement at the core, before moving on to other issues which might be a factor of comparison, notably homogenous versus highly heterogenous societies.
- drug3737 11y ago
  Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, to name a few, are seen as less corrupt than countries like Portugal, France and Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index All the Asian countries I mentioned have more draconian drug laws, less crime and less drug usage rates than the European ones I mentioned (along with the United States). It's easy to dismiss my argument by calling them corrupt and their statistics misleading. It's another thing to actually refute my argument with facts and figures, which you haven't done.
  - 6stringmerc 11y ago
    Yes, it is easy because frankly I don't believe in taking a lot of time proving a negative, as in I can't walk out my door and disprove the statistics I believe to be false and you claim to be true.
  - rwmj 11y ago
    China has a big ketamine problem now, with whole villages producing the drug and many addicts. Singapore has a middle-class "ice" (meth) problem. In addition, there was a recent study showing that harsh penalties and rates of drug use are not correlated. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/30/punitive-drug-laws-are-failing-study http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/30/punitive-drug... If you think that particular countries have unusually low rates of use, then you may be just wrong because of misreporting, or it could be to do with other societal factors (eg. children having to live at home longer with parents because of social norms or housing issues).
    - drug3737 11y ago
      China's drugs usage death rate is very low compared to Western countries. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/by-country/ http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/b...
      - rwmj 11y ago
        By the same website, China deaths by alcohol use are also much lower than the West. Is the punishment for alcohol use much more severe in China than it is in the West? Erm, no - in fact none of those countries use the criminal justice system to punish alcohol users. Could it therefore be other factors like societal attitudes as I said in the comment above. You should also remember that by far the most widely used illegal drug is cannabis (93% in the UK), and it's almost impossible to die from cannabis. About the only way I can think of is if a block of it drops on you from a smuggler's aircraft. So just looking at deaths from drug use isn't so interesting. There are other ways that drugs are both productive and enjoyable, and can be damaging.
    - aminorex 11y ago
      Ketamine "addicts"? You crack me up.
maxxxxx 11y ago
I can only speak as an immigrant to the Us. The US has a culture of pill popping. Doctors are much more likely to give you strong painkillers than German doctors so the drug use is higher. I don't think it has to do with drug laws.

6stringmerc 11y ago

Caveat to your statement: Reported usage and crime rates. How many of the Asian countries you mentioned have a free and robust press industry that investigates government claims without fear of retribution? I'm of the opinion none, none you mentioned. Therefore I question the validity of your statement at the core, before moving on to other issues which might be a factor of comparison, notably homogenous versus highly heterogenous societies.

drug3737 11y ago
Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, to name a few, are seen as less corrupt than countries like Portugal, France and Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index All the Asian countries I mentioned have more draconian drug laws, less crime and less drug usage rates than the European ones I mentioned (along with the United States). It's easy to dismiss my argument by calling them corrupt and their statistics misleading. It's another thing to actually refute my argument with facts and figures, which you haven't done.
- 6stringmerc 11y ago
  Yes, it is easy because frankly I don't believe in taking a lot of time proving a negative, as in I can't walk out my door and disprove the statistics I believe to be false and you claim to be true.
- rwmj 11y ago
  China has a big ketamine problem now, with whole villages producing the drug and many addicts. Singapore has a middle-class "ice" (meth) problem. In addition, there was a recent study showing that harsh penalties and rates of drug use are not correlated. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/30/punitive-drug-laws-are-failing-study http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/30/punitive-drug... If you think that particular countries have unusually low rates of use, then you may be just wrong because of misreporting, or it could be to do with other societal factors (eg. children having to live at home longer with parents because of social norms or housing issues).
  - drug3737 11y ago
    China's drugs usage death rate is very low compared to Western countries. http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/by-country/ http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/b...
    - rwmj 11y ago
      By the same website, China deaths by alcohol use are also much lower than the West. Is the punishment for alcohol use much more severe in China than it is in the West? Erm, no - in fact none of those countries use the criminal justice system to punish alcohol users. Could it therefore be other factors like societal attitudes as I said in the comment above. You should also remember that by far the most widely used illegal drug is cannabis (93% in the UK), and it's almost impossible to die from cannabis. About the only way I can think of is if a block of it drops on you from a smuggler's aircraft. So just looking at deaths from drug use isn't so interesting. There are other ways that drugs are both productive and enjoyable, and can be damaging.
  - aminorex 11y ago
    Ketamine "addicts"? You crack me up.

maxxxxx 11y ago

I can only speak as an immigrant to the Us. The US has a culture of pill popping. Doctors are much more likely to give you strong painkillers than German doctors so the drug use is higher. I don't think it has to do with drug laws.