I deal with numbers and I see those (England, Wales, Australia, USofA) as "ballpark" close to each other .. relative to 170+ other countries about the globe.
The UK and Australia have similiar policing roles and behaviours, quite different to the US - more uniform within the countries, significantly less use of guns and force, etc.
The UK and Australia both get container loads of cocaine, meth and other drugs, and have thriving local drug networks.
Damn near half the population of Australia has used illicit drugs at one point or another:
According to the 2022–2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), an estimated 10.2 million (47%) people aged 14 and over in Australia had illicitly used a drug at some point in their lifetime (including the non-medical use of pharmaceuticals), and an estimated 3.9 million (18%) had used an illicit drug in the previous 12 months. This was similar to proportions in 2019 (43% and 16%, respectively) but has increased since 2007 (38% and 13%, respectively) (Figure 1).
