What is the impact of the different drug policies of England and Wales and the Netherlands on their respective levels of offending?

What is the impact of the different drug policies of England and Wales and the Netherlands on their respective levels of offending? The Netherlands, in relation to soft drugs, adopts a social/welfare policy. Their drug policy is concerned with the health and safety of users. England and Wales take a criminal approach in their hard and soft drug policies. It may be thought that because England and Wales criminalise all drugs that this drives …

…that there is a definite link between crime and drug use. Both countries take quite different stances on criminal justice, drugs, sentencing and policing. The differing drug policies appear to be welfare v. criminalisation. By criminalizing all drugs then England and Wales will have a far higher rate of drug offenders, compared with the Netherlands. However, all the figures mentioned have to be looked at in the context of having many factors that influence them.