--http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/50/098.html
[Malaysia]"The National Drug Agency (ADK) has, through its efforts, registered more than 300,000 addicts in its drug fight. However, just like the iceberg, the numbers are only what is seen above the surface. Some local studies have suggested there are an estimated three to four addicts who are not registered with the ADK for every one that is."
--thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2005/4/17/health/10678978&sec=health
"Iran has executed more than 10,000 narcotics traffickers in the last decade;"
--www.payvand.com/news/04/mar/1012.htm
"Iran has the highest proportion of heroin addicts in the world and a growing Aids problem."
--news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/3791889.stm
"There were an estimated 980,000 hardcore heroin addicts in the United States in 1999, 50 percent more than the estimated 630,000 hardcore addicts in 1992." [980,000 is about 0.33% of the population]
--www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs07/794/heroin.htm
"The number of addicts in the Netherlands has been stable - at 25,000 - for many years." [That's about 0.17% of the population, figures from 1999]
--http://www.minjust.nl:8080/a_beleid/fact/cfact7.htm.
Is it fair to say that there is a positive correlation between harsher drug laws and higher rates of heroin addiction?
OK, so you are saying that ONLY difference between the US and these countries is the drug laws, AND all these addicts are basically the same race and in the same socio-economic group?
Go toke a little more then come back and try and explain that.