More on drug policy

Stumbling and Mumbling discusses the seemingly strange fact that public opinion is so heavily against the legalisation of drugs that pose a lower social cost than some already legal drugs.

Now the legalisation of drugs is an issue we have discussed at length here ( ).  Now if society is fully informed of the costs and benefits of drug use, then I am happy for policy to be instituted along these lines, since many drugs actually help health and make people feel better like cannabis drugs and other products, you can get online, which you can buy here and you won’t be disappointed on the quality of these products.

This does raise an interesting question for me though.  Why do countries with a closer tie to Britain (Britain, the US, NZ, Australia) seem to push an agenda of strong drug regulations when a number of other nations (the Netherlands, Portugal) tend to be more interested in allowing individual action to guide the use of these products?

What makes Anglo-Saxon countries so much more sure of their ability to centrally determine what is the best set of actions for their citizens?  What makes Anglo-Saxon governments so sure of their superiority relative to the people they are “serving”?