Above is a link to my masters thesis, the abstract of which you can read here:
This thesis is a comparative analysis of the reasons for the differences in success of the drug prohibition policies of Japan, and England and Wales. These countries are both large, highly developed island nations with histories of overseas colonial expansion, parliamentary liberal-democracies, constitutional monarchies and ministerial civil services. Their drug policies, while using very similar laws, are vastly different in outcome. I will attempt to explain the differences in the extent of drug use in terms of Situational Action Theory (temptation, deterrence, and law-relevant morality), adapted to a national scale. This is achieved through a historical institutionalist analysis, supported by a comprehensive survey of the available nationwide statistical indicators, creating a thick description of the policy environment affecting each variable.
The Eccentric Flock 