Why didn't Singapore lose its war on drugs?
Because Singapore does it right. The only way we will win the war on drugs is if we make the punishment so harsh that no one will choose to use drugs.
I have long said that the only way we will win the war on drugs is if we impose the death penalty for possession. Others have suggested it is unreasonable and harsh, and maybe it is, but you can't win a war without piling up some bodies.
Because Singapore is very small, and is willing to sacrifice almost all freedoms we and the British hold dear for the sake of social order.
Stopping people from ruining their lives by screwing up their brain chemistry isn't worth the cost of living in a police state.
Because Singapore already is the kind of police state that is utterly necessary to carry out such a policy effectively.
"The GOS [Government of Singapore] nonetheless is concerned about the increase in addiction rates and recidivism among drug offenders who have undergone treatment. There are currently about 9,000 addicts undergoing rehabilitation in Singapore treatment centers, the same number as in 1995."
--http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/1996_narc_report/index.html
The Netherlands-- "Demand Reduction. The Netherlands has extensive demand reduction programs and lowthreshold medical services for addicts, who are also offered drug rehabilitation programs. Authorities believe such programs reach about 7080 percent of the country's 25,000 harddrug users. [my note: in a total population of 15.1 million]
--http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/1996_narc_report/index.html
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Using a population of 3 million for Singapore in 1996, that works out to an addiction rate of about 0.30%. Using the State Dept. figures for the Netherlands, and a population of 15.1 million, the addiction rate was about 0.17%.
Also note that the Singapore figure only takes into account the addicts under treatment, whereas the figure for Holland is the estimate of the total number of addicts.
Why didn't Singapore lose its war on drugs?
Singapore is not a free society.
In a free society such as ours, you cannot prevent the people from doing what they want with their own lives.
The white man should never embrace the methods of the SinoFascists. Its is against our natural respect for individual rights and healthy disrespect for authority, something lacking in many Asian cultures (especially the Chinese, who are the majority of Singapore's population).
You can't seriously think that drugs don't get sold and used in Singapore.
But they seem to have done well in their war against toliet seats left unflushed in public restrooms.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/01/15/singapore.executions.reut/
About 400 people have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving the wealthy city-state of four million people possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population, Amnesty said.
Singapore's drug laws are among the world's harshest. Anyone aged 18 or over convicted of carrying more than 15 grams of heroin faces mandatory execution by hanging.
But drug addiction was still a problem, Amnesty said, adding that there was "no convincing evidence" high execution rates had curbed drug use in Singapore.
It cited Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau statistics showing 3,393 people arrested for drug offences in 2002 and the number of new drug abusers up 16 percent from 2001. Use of methamphetamines, or "ice," also showed a significant increase.
Singapore "won" the war on drugs, I guess. However, they have lost all vestiges of a free society besides very limited property rights.