Out of interest, what is the reasoning behind using homicide rates as a proxy for crime more generally? Countries with (relatively) high rates incarceration for non-violent drug offenders might skew the relationship (Thailand for example).
There is then a second question about whether or not non-violent drug offenders should be imprisoned (at all/at the rates that they are in some countries), but the argument that incarceration is explained by crime might hold in these countries.
Out of interest, what is the reasoning behind using homicide rates as a proxy for crime more generally? Countries with (relatively) high rates incarceration for non-violent drug offenders might skew the relationship (Thailand for example).
There is then a second question about whether or not non-violent drug offenders should be imprisoned (at all/at the rates that they are in some countries), but the argument that incarceration is explained by crime might hold in these countries.