But it takes work. There's no reason, culturally, that drug decriminalization couldn't be successful in the US in one form or another (same for fixing the healthcare problem and other issues), but a comparison of the cultures might be valuable and help inform how some countries got there and how the US could get there. This is a *quick and dirty* comparison of the prison rates of the US and Portugal (couldn't find anything related specifically to drug use) and of one of Geert Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture, Individualism (for more, see links below). This demonstrates that there is at least one significant cultural difference between the two countries that might be an important factor in determining what might work best in changing public opinion here.

One striking difference among modern nations is their rate of imprisonment: the share of the population that is locked up in a penitentiary institution. This share is particularly large in the United States....

Another factor influencing the imprisonment rate is the purpose of punishment. The short-term solution, practiced in the United States and to a lesser extent in Britain, is to protect society by locking criminals away. This leads to long prison sentences. The long-term solution is to reform criminals and recycle them into productive citizens, leading to shorter sentences and lower rates of imprisonment. Strongly individualist societies

are more likely to see the criminal as the problem and punish him or her; less individualist societies are more likely to see the crime as the problem and focus on correcting its causes.

[Cultures and Organizations: Software for the Mind (Geert Hofstede and Gert Jan Hofstede, 1996)]

Prison population rates per 100,000

Portugal: 104 (based on an estimated national population of 10.64 million at end of February 2009 [from Eurostat figures])

US: 756 (based on an estimated national population of 303.15 million at end of 2007 [U.S. Census Bureau])

The Cultural Dimension of Individualism
Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world.

On the cultural dimension of individualism, US society as a whole rates 91; Portugal rates 27.

Links:

Prison Rates: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worldbrief/

Geert Hofsted, Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at the University of Maastricht: http://feweb.uvt.nl/center/hofstede/index.htm

More on the Dimensions of Culture: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/intercultural/dimensions.html

Question: Does anyone happen to know of a site with a comparison of drug laws (preferably ranked by severity)? I'd love to plug those ratings in with the dimensions of culture and see what happens. I've found several sites that deal with specific regions, but haven't been able to find it all in one neat and tidy place. TIA

Audio of the Izzy Award Ceremony is available here (and @ sig): http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/independentmedia/izzy/

Congratulations, again!

What cultural differences do you think account for the fact that 13 US states have enacted marijuana decriminalization laws?

More than 30 percent of the U.S. population lives under some form of marijuana decriminalization, and according to government and academic studies, these laws have not contributed to an increase in marijuana consumption nor negatively impacted adolescent attitudes toward drug use.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5442

My previous post does not demonstrate that what works in another country cannot work here. It was meant to suggest that by looking at cultural similarities and differences, we may be able to learn how to influence policies in this country. The cultural value of individualism is just one small measure of a society (as a whole) and it's not enough to know what might or might not work in this country.

The story of India and alcohol is not over, btw. Prohibition has been withdrawn in several states and

Indian society is currently undergoing another tectonic shift in its socio-economic fabric. The impact of globalisation and economic liberalization (exposure to satellite television, rapid socioeconomic transition and growing disposable incomes) appears to have influenced a widespread attitudinal shift to greater normalization of alcohol use.

http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/publications/theglobe/globe200502/gl200502_p7.html

at "lawrence sanders" history (and especially the link at his sig). "john houseplant," too, if he shows up again.

The day before this motion was filed, "House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) announced the publication of the final version of the Democratic Committee staff report on systematic abuses of presidential power during the Bush administration."

I was reading it with a little bit of hope before I saw this post. 541 pages outlining all the abuses of the Bush administration and including 50 detailed recommendations. It seems like a monumental waste of time and I feel much the same as you do right now, DCLaw1. I'll probably snap out of it in a day or two.

There's now a diary at the top of the recommended list on Daily Kos saying that the DOJ lawyers are only doing their jobs (and @ sig): http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/8/717799/-DOJ-and-the-FISA-Lawsuit:-The-Lawyers-are-Doing-Their-Job

I remember posting, not long ago, an example where the DOJ did not pursue a defense when it was it the government's interest. No excuses.

EFF's Kevin Bankston will be on Countdown With Keith Olbermann tonight on MSNBC to discuss warrantless wiretapping and the Obama DOJ.

http://www.twitter.com/EFF