Originally Posted by
caspritz78
Many countries are especially not very forgiving when it comes to drugs. As little the amount may be you will be fully prosecuted and if you are lucky you just spend a couple of years in jail. If you are not so lucky you only get granted a last wish.
And this is a bad thing? It's a bad idea to have strict laws about drugs? I wouldn't think that drug possession or usage would constitute a minor offense.
Originally Posted by
wb8iny
Another area of strict enforcement (although not as bad as carrying drugs) is DUI, especially in most of Western Europe and Scandnavia. There is zero tolerence, and fines can be very stiff.... You can expect random checks along the highways at times, and you had better blow clean.
Luckily I've never had an experience myself to prove it out, but have been warned often when driving a rental car......
Again... this is a bad thing? Random checks and stiff penalties are good IMHO.
Guess I'm now officially an old over the hill guy or I've spent more years away from America then inside it but I pretty much agree with many foreign country's laws and how they handle it compared to the way the US does. The US takes too long to handle cases, and is way too lenient.
The only thing the US does well that other countries do not do well in.... is that many officials in Asia / Oceania just take a bribe and make up reasons to try to penalize people because they are seen as rich foreigners. Of course I am starting to think of it is a cost of doing business overseas as it is common place and once you show them that you're not buying what they are offering and you know how to counter act their bluff you can stop paying these bribes and shake downs. You run the risk of being held up and sometimes it is worth it just to pay the bribe, and in many cases it's a few USD and these folks make squat all but it is the principal to me that they should not be shaking down tourists...