The United States is certainly part of the west, and we incarcerate people at a higher rate than any other advanced nation, BY FAR.
The idea that we are soft on crime is insane.
Harsher punishments do not lead to lower crime.
The idea that we are soft on crime is insane.
Harsher punishments do not lead to lower crime.
Crime is committed at a higher rate than in any other advanced nation, though some of the others are catching up.
> The idea that we are soft on crime is insane
Not even a little bit insane. There are a million criminal laws on the books that do not get enforced at all. For example, I live in a state that is stereotypically conservative and "tough on crime" and any marijuana-related products are strictly illegal, most often at the felony level; yet I constantly smell it while driving on the road, no less! People are smoking while driving all the time. This cannot be described as anything but soft on crime.
The US system was overall built by and for people who are largely self-governing. This philosophy gets in the way of a true hard-on-crime pivot.
Because putting people in prison for weed does not stop people smoking weed.
When you see statistics about people incarcerated on marijuana charges, what they normally obscure is either that's not the only charge or they pled down from something more serious.
There isn't a single person in federal custody there for marijuana possession and only that.