I disagree with the part about population size being a factor, so that's what I responded to. I also admit I misread you comment a little (sorry, not a native s

I disagree with the part about population size being a factor, so that's what I responded to. I also admit I misread you comment a little (sorry, not a native speaker and I wass reading it on a coffee break at work). > US murder and incarceration rates are more or less solely caused by the war on drugs That's what you would expect if drug trade is the most profitable crime, no matter if drugs are the reason these people went into crime in the first place. If you can't afford your expected lifestyle within the system you go outside the system. Once there you choose the crime with the highest profit per risk factor. There's plenty of countries that penalize drug ownership that have order of magnitude less crime than USA.