Yes culture is a major part of it, which is why you need to compare similar countries. Among western countries those with more liberal drug laws tend to have le

Yes culture is a major part of it, which is why you need to compare similar countries. Among western countries those with more liberal drug laws tend to have less problems. Compare e.g. the Netherlands, Switzerland and Portugal with the US. In my native Norway, punishment for almost anything is quite mild including drug related crime. Yet drug usage is much lower than in the US. We are all more similar to the US than Japan, being all derived from European culture.