4 ms·

How does this even make sense? Japan has a "zero tolerance policy" on drugs and one of the lowest drug related death rates in the world (extremely lower than de

How does this even make sense? Japan has a "zero tolerance policy" on drugs and one of the lowest drug related death rates in the world (extremely lower than decriminalized Portugal). http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/by-country/ http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/drug-use/b... And guess what? Singapore has even tougher drug laws than Japan and a lower drug related death rate than Japan. What am I missing here?

josu 12y ago
Japan could just be an outlier.
- 54hgfhjhg 12y ago
  Not exactly. There's also Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia, China (all countries with extremely strict drug laws and far lower drug related death rates than Portugal)
  - smoe 12y ago
    According to this list, Colombia has fewer drug related deaths than any of the countries you mentioned, Sierra Leone about the same as Japan and the Netherlands is below Saudi Arabia. I can't find the source of this list or any comparable ranking. But except for some countries, this lists seems completely random to me or is using not comparable numbers from each countries in/official statistics
  - pessimizer 12y ago
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/executions-hit-new-high-in-chinas-drugs-war-712544.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/executions-hit-... This is about 72 people being executed in a single week in China for drug offenses. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/saudi-beheads-four-men-smuggling-drugs-2014818184317907443.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/saudi-behea... The question is whether shooting, beheading, or letting people die in prison for selling or doing drugs counts as a drug death. http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/07/09/IHRA_DeathPenaltyReport_Web.pdf http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/07/09/IHRA_DeathPenaltyReport...
- malandrew 12y ago
  Exactly, cultural characteristics matter. Japan is a collectivistic culture with a high trust of authority. I would imagine that individualistic cultures with low trust of authority are likely to experience greater drug use.
justincormack 12y ago
The people executed by Saudi Arabia eg [1] four people executed for possession of marijuana are not accounted as drug related deaths. Singapore also kills people for drug possession. Relative to this, drugs are pretty safe. [1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-saudi-execution-idUSKBN0GJ0BG20140819 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-saudi-execution...
vidarh 12y ago
How about reading the article? The point the article makes is that the numbers are all over the place, irrespective of legal approach, so you have to look elsewhere than enforcement to find the causes for low rates of usage and death. That e.g. Japan is lower than "decriminalized Portugal" is does not contradict this all the time numbers in Portugal were higher before decriminalization.
simplexion 12y ago
And Japan is high up on the suicide list. Maybe it's from a lack of self-medicating?
- ufo 12y ago
  I usually hear that the suicide rate in Japan is usually associated to their culture: there is lots of pressure to preform on your studies and work and suicide is often considered an "honorable" way out. Associating the suicide rate to lack of medical marijuana is probably jumping to conclusions. Not to mention, alcohol is legal in Japan. I think its a bit weird that whenever theres discussion and statistics about drugs people leave alcohol out of the numbers.
adventured 12y ago
And Switzerland has a very low death-by-gun rate compared to most countries that allow ownership of guns. How would that make sense as an argument in favor of all nations allowing gun ownership for all citizens? It wouldn't, because it's obviously a matter of culture. Different countries, different cultures, different results.

josu 12y ago

Japan could just be an outlier.

54hgfhjhg 12y ago
Not exactly. There's also Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia, China (all countries with extremely strict drug laws and far lower drug related death rates than Portugal)
- smoe 12y ago
  According to this list, Colombia has fewer drug related deaths than any of the countries you mentioned, Sierra Leone about the same as Japan and the Netherlands is below Saudi Arabia. I can't find the source of this list or any comparable ranking. But except for some countries, this lists seems completely random to me or is using not comparable numbers from each countries in/official statistics
- pessimizer 12y ago
  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/executions-hit-new-high-in-chinas-drugs-war-712544.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/executions-hit-... This is about 72 people being executed in a single week in China for drug offenses. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/saudi-beheads-four-men-smuggling-drugs-2014818184317907443.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/saudi-behea... The question is whether shooting, beheading, or letting people die in prison for selling or doing drugs counts as a drug death. http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/07/09/IHRA_DeathPenaltyReport_Web.pdf http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/07/09/IHRA_DeathPenaltyReport...
malandrew 12y ago
Exactly, cultural characteristics matter. Japan is a collectivistic culture with a high trust of authority. I would imagine that individualistic cultures with low trust of authority are likely to experience greater drug use.

justincormack 12y ago

The people executed by Saudi Arabia eg [1] four people executed for possession of marijuana are not accounted as drug related deaths. Singapore also kills people for drug possession. Relative to this, drugs are pretty safe. [1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-saudi-execution-idUSKBN0GJ0BG20140819 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/19/us-saudi-execution...

vidarh 12y ago

How about reading the article? The point the article makes is that the numbers are all over the place, irrespective of legal approach, so you have to look elsewhere than enforcement to find the causes for low rates of usage and death. That e.g. Japan is lower than "decriminalized Portugal" is does not contradict this all the time numbers in Portugal were higher before decriminalization.

simplexion 12y ago

And Japan is high up on the suicide list. Maybe it's from a lack of self-medicating?

ufo 12y ago
I usually hear that the suicide rate in Japan is usually associated to their culture: there is lots of pressure to preform on your studies and work and suicide is often considered an "honorable" way out. Associating the suicide rate to lack of medical marijuana is probably jumping to conclusions. Not to mention, alcohol is legal in Japan. I think its a bit weird that whenever theres discussion and statistics about drugs people leave alcohol out of the numbers.

adventured 12y ago

And Switzerland has a very low death-by-gun rate compared to most countries that allow ownership of guns. How would that make sense as an argument in favor of all nations allowing gun ownership for all citizens? It wouldn't, because it's obviously a matter of culture. Different countries, different cultures, different results.