6 ms·

So anyone who has LSD on them gets life in prison? Sounds expensive. Is that how other countries have avoided having this many visible homeless? Any concerns a

So anyone who has LSD on them gets life in prison? Sounds expensive. Is that how other countries have avoided having this many visible homeless? Any concerns about police placing drugs on someone if punishment is this harsh?

s1artibartfast 23d ago
Yeah, that is actually how a lot of countries in Asia have handled the problem
- crote 23d ago
  So how come incarceration in Asia is orders of magnitude lower than in the US?
  - s1artibartfast 23d ago
    The laws are enforced harshly and consistently, so people follow them. As a result, you have low crime and low total incarceration. Take auto theft. In California, we have 1 auto theft arrest per 15 stolen cars. Incarceration rate is 1 in 5 of those arrested, so 1 per 75 stolen cars. Japan has 1 arrest for every 2 stolen cars - A much higher rate of getting caught. Japan has about 5,000 stolen vehicles nationally per year. California has about 200,000 per year. As a result, there are very few in prison for it, despite the 10 year sentence.
    - account42 22d ago
      Be careful comparing such statistics between countries as the defintions of what counts at every step will be different and there are always contributing factors that skew the statistics.
      - s1artibartfast 22d ago
        I think I took appropriate caution. Do you have a specific concern?
    - codedokode 22d ago
      Could it be because Japan is populated mostly (98%) by people who have lived there for multiple generations under strict rules? Also, it's probably a cultural thing where crime is shamed.
  - deleted 22d ago
    [deleted]
- mx7zysuj4xew 22d ago
  They haven't "handled" the problem. Drugs are still as plentiful and cheap as ever there
SchemaLoad 23d ago
It is pretty much how China has handled it. It seems like it does actually work if your goal is to fully eliminate drug issues, but it's unacceptably harsh for most countries to palate.
- vintermann 23d ago
  A quick check suggests the penalty for possession is 3 years in prison, not life. No idea if that is a maximum sentence. From what I can find, it looks like China does a lot of what the US does, including DARE style education, and that there is still (by Chinese accounts) quite a lot of illegal drug use. I would think that since China is very nationalist and still fairly collectivist/anti-individualist, and has a grim history of drugs being used as a tool of foreign imperialism (the opium wars), drug use is much further out of the social "Overton window". I think that's a better explanation for apparently lower drug use than harsh punishments, because other states also have those (notably the US!)
anon48293 23d ago
Why is it expensive? Forced labor and for profit prisons exist. And if there is a life sentence on hard drugs who would possibly have them on them? You could also make it the 3rd offense or something, not that difficult.
- amanaplanacanal 22d ago
  So essentially a return to the failed drug policies of the last 50 years.
- kakacik 23d ago
  Dealers can deal with that easily, this is often how they operate now, they don't carry big bags of stuff in their pockets usually they have nothing if police will do quick search. With that approach you will mostly catch users. If I would be getting these naive suggestions of yours in this thread from my 6 year old son, I could respect them. But adults in 2026 should definitely know better and know a bit of history to reflect on.
- gambiting 22d ago
  >>And if there is a life sentence on hard drugs who would possibly have them on them? Well by that logic there's no thieves in countries that cut your arm off for stealing. It doesn't work this way.

s1artibartfast 23d ago

Yeah, that is actually how a lot of countries in Asia have handled the problem

crote 23d ago
So how come incarceration in Asia is orders of magnitude lower than in the US?
- s1artibartfast 23d ago
  The laws are enforced harshly and consistently, so people follow them. As a result, you have low crime and low total incarceration. Take auto theft. In California, we have 1 auto theft arrest per 15 stolen cars. Incarceration rate is 1 in 5 of those arrested, so 1 per 75 stolen cars. Japan has 1 arrest for every 2 stolen cars - A much higher rate of getting caught. Japan has about 5,000 stolen vehicles nationally per year. California has about 200,000 per year. As a result, there are very few in prison for it, despite the 10 year sentence.
  - account42 22d ago
    Be careful comparing such statistics between countries as the defintions of what counts at every step will be different and there are always contributing factors that skew the statistics.
    - s1artibartfast 22d ago
      I think I took appropriate caution. Do you have a specific concern?
  - codedokode 22d ago
    Could it be because Japan is populated mostly (98%) by people who have lived there for multiple generations under strict rules? Also, it's probably a cultural thing where crime is shamed.
- deleted 22d ago
  [deleted]
mx7zysuj4xew 22d ago
They haven't "handled" the problem. Drugs are still as plentiful and cheap as ever there

SchemaLoad 23d ago

It is pretty much how China has handled it. It seems like it does actually work if your goal is to fully eliminate drug issues, but it's unacceptably harsh for most countries to palate.

vintermann 23d ago
A quick check suggests the penalty for possession is 3 years in prison, not life. No idea if that is a maximum sentence. From what I can find, it looks like China does a lot of what the US does, including DARE style education, and that there is still (by Chinese accounts) quite a lot of illegal drug use. I would think that since China is very nationalist and still fairly collectivist/anti-individualist, and has a grim history of drugs being used as a tool of foreign imperialism (the opium wars), drug use is much further out of the social "Overton window". I think that's a better explanation for apparently lower drug use than harsh punishments, because other states also have those (notably the US!)

anon48293 23d ago

Why is it expensive? Forced labor and for profit prisons exist. And if there is a life sentence on hard drugs who would possibly have them on them? You could also make it the 3rd offense or something, not that difficult.

amanaplanacanal 22d ago
So essentially a return to the failed drug policies of the last 50 years.
kakacik 23d ago
Dealers can deal with that easily, this is often how they operate now, they don't carry big bags of stuff in their pockets usually they have nothing if police will do quick search. With that approach you will mostly catch users. If I would be getting these naive suggestions of yours in this thread from my 6 year old son, I could respect them. But adults in 2026 should definitely know better and know a bit of history to reflect on.
gambiting 22d ago
>>And if there is a life sentence on hard drugs who would possibly have them on them? Well by that logic there's no thieves in countries that cut your arm off for stealing. It doesn't work this way.