Drug laws in other countries?

Question by Erica: Drug laws in other countries?
I read somewhere that the reason the U.S. has a big drug problem is because we treat drug addiction as a crime, while other countries have less drug problems because they treat drug addiction like an illness. I’m a little confused and curious about this.
Does that mean that those countries don’t punish people for drug use? They’re free to use drug until they become addicted? And what about drug dealers, is providing the drugs a crime, even though doing the drug isn’t a crime?
I’m curious about this method but I don’t really get it. Can anyone help me understand this?

Best answer:

Answer by Chuck
our drug laws are mild compared to other countries. What gets you a 3 – 5 year sentence here can get you the death penalty somewhere else.

Answer by Mugwumps
The US and UK both have the strictest drug laws in the west and the worst drug problems. Some European Countries no longer treat certain drug possession as a crime, notably Portugal who have seen positive results because of their policy change. Most will not criminalise you for possession, the ones which do tend to have the worst problems. I think Sweden treats drug users medically, instead of going to jail they are put into rehab, this approach is only useful to drug addicts (most drug users are NOT addicts) who want to give up. I don’t really get criminalisation of people for drug use, it has been shown to be a massive failure, prisons are rife with drugs, so criminalising these people just makes the issue worse.

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