>It makes sense and it's proven that it works.
>Dutch rates of drug use are lower than U.S. rates in EVERY category and all drugs are legal there. http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/westerneurop/thenetherlan/
>
>Thanks for the info - I still wonder about the 2 cultures being so different - but you make some good points. Thanks

Another interesting fact:
According to the American Corrections Association, the average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the US is $67.55. State prisons held 253,300 inmates for drug offenses in 2007. That means states spent approximately $17,110,415 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6,245,301,475 per year.

Source: American Correctional Association, 2006 Directory of Adult and Juvenile Correctional Departments, Institutions, Agencies and Probation and Parole Authorities, 67th Edition (Alexandria, VA: ACA, 2006), p. 16; Sabol, William J., PhD, and West, Heather C., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2007 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 2008), NCJ224280, p. 21, Appendix Table 10.

...sure seems like a huge waste. Keep in mind these stats are just for state prisons. Surely the local jails' numbers are way higher than this.