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> I mean people will smuggle drugs into Singapore under the penalty of death Yeah, but how many? Singapore has a very small drug trade when you consider its we

> I mean people will smuggle drugs into Singapore under the penalty of death Yeah, but how many? Singapore has a very small drug trade when you consider its wealth per-capita. Most counties with similar wealth have trades several times larger per-capita. You can't completely eliminate a crime no matter what punishments you hand out. Someone people are just blind to risk. However, that doesn't mean punishing people is futile. It has a demonstrable effect. Now, I do believe that checks and balances that prevent crime are generally more effective than punishments, but punishments are still necessary to add risk to gaps in prevention.

refurb 3y ago
> Yeah, but how many? Lots of people. There are sizable drugs busts (kilograms of heroin) in Singapore every few weeks. It's a country of 5M, smaller than a larger US city.
- BobbyJo 3y ago
  That doesn't mean anything out of context. Yes, there are drug busts, but the size and frequency are much less than would be expected in a US or EU city of the same size and wealth. Even less than the percapita average of Japan if I'm not mistaken, which itself has laws nearly as strict.
  - refurb 3y ago
    > but the size and frequency are much less than would be expected in a US or EU city of the same size and wealth. That's a claim that needs some data to back it up. Singapore has 3.5M people. Kilograms of heroin is a huge amount. It's in the dozens of kilograms per year, and that's not counting all the heroin that doesn't get seized.