Two news articles on America: the US leads the world in illegal drug use and also rates itself as one of the happiest (richest)

[azoria]

U.S. leads world in substance abuse, WHO finds

Tue Jul 1, 2008 5:30pm BST


"The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday."

mod cut: text removed


U.S. leads world in substance abuse, WHO finds | Science & Health | Reuters

[azoria]

And the world's happiest country is..

Tue Jul 1, 2008 10:21pm BST

"Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world, researchers said on Monday.
Zimbabwe, torn by political and social strife, is the least happy, while the world's richest nation, the United States, ranks 16th."




And the world's happiest country is.. | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0145488820080701?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandC - broken link)

[sav858]

not sure which is a bigger waste of money, the War on Drugs or the Iraq War.

[TomDot]

So the W.H.O. interviews 54,000 people in 17 nations (about 8% of the nations on the planet) and releases a report that says we lead the world in drug abuse.
They leave out facts like the U.S. is the closest industrialized nation to the cocaine producers of the world. Or that on any given afternoon 1 out of every 2 somalis is hopped up on khat. Or this:




Why am I not the least bit surprised that the UN would feel the need to denigrate or lie about the U.S.

[valleys_of_hills]

Originally Posted by TomDot

So the W.H.O. interviews 54,000 people in 17 nations (about 8% of the nations on the planet) and releases a report that says we lead the world in drug abuse.
They leave out facts like the U.S. is the closest industrialized nation to the cocaine producers of the world.

Cocaine is widely available all around the world, especially industrialized countries. Shipping cocaine to Europe isn't much different from shipping it to the USA. Heroin production mostly occurs in Asia and most of it is trafficked through Europe, and is much cheaper and more widely available than in the USA. Marijuana is obviously widely available too. The point is, the USA has far more severe laws against using illegal drugs than in most European countries, yet use of these same drugs is more rampant in the USA, even though the same drugs are widely available in other industrialized nations as well.

The fact that pot smoking in the Netherlands being less common than it is in the USA sort of ruins your argument (unfounded anti-UN paranoia)