[Ol' Sparky]

Correlation is not causation

All drug usage, murder and crime in the Netherlands increased after marijuana was decriminalized in the mid-1980s over a 20-year period. And, marijuana use is proven gateway to harder drug usage and it isn't arguable that intoxication is a factor in about half the murder and results in addicts committing crimes to get drugs.

[IDFbunny]

Alcohol is more responsible for more death, destruction, and violence than every other drug combined. I think your concerns are misplaced.

[Ken H]

Your source shows the rise in murder rates was well underway by the mid-1980s. It also fails to explain the recent decline. In 2007 there were 147 murders committed in the Netherlands¹. In a population of 18M, that works out to a rate of about 0.82 per 100,000. Looking at your chart, that is the lowest level since the early 1970s.

Your conclusion that lax drug laws are causal for a rise in murders is worthy of junk AGW climate science.

¹http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/Record-low-murder-rate-once-again.html

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

murder and crime in the Netherlands increased after marijuana was decriminalized in the mid-1980s over a 20-year period

Murder and crime increased pretty much EVERYWHERE in that period. Pointing at one country that legalized pot and saying that's the reason there while ignoring greater increases in countries that didn't legalize is willfully obtuse. Basically you seem to want to blame pot for everything up to and including a rainy day.