Ok consider Iceland. Literally an island, very high overdose rate.

Well, having a 9 month winter will make anyone take drugs.

That rather supports gok’s claim that it’s more complicated than just punishment severity.

Vitamin D should be the first.

Per capita?

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that there are many variables to consider, and a lot of them are less obvious, or less quantifiable.

I never thought of it this way but basically South Korean is an island effectively. Practically no one travels in/out of South Korea except by flying in/out.

how is this significant in any way to the topic of drug-related deaths?

It relates to how drugs get into the country, and what drugs get into the country. In the case of the U.S., the Mexico border is a huge problem. It probably didn't help that the CIA was selling automatic weapons to the cartels, either...

It's much easier to catch someone smuggling drugs through an airport than it is stopping someone from walking over an imaginary line that's thousands of kilometres long. So less drugs in circulation, which would have an effect on death rates.

Koreans have boats, and a very large coastline...

Sure, but their closest marine neighbor is also very hard on drugs and drugs dealers (Japan).

Given that drugs are grown/cultivated elsewhere and smuggled in, and smuggling them is close to a $100 billion per year business, very.