According to Life Means Health:

The Dutch government has announced that it does not have enough prisoners to fill its prisons, and as a result is closing down 8 prisons. Currently, the Netherlands has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners, but only has 12,000 people to fill those jails. The shutting down of these prisons are being attributed to an ever decreasing crime rate in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has a population of 16.6 million and a prison population of roughly 12,000, putting its percentage of prisoners as 0.07%, whereas the UK’s own prison population is nearly 94,000 (!!!) with a population of 62 million, leaving its percentage as 0.15%, just over twice that of the Netherlands.

The United States has a population of 310 million people and at last count we had over 2.3 million people in our prisons and jails.

The article continues by explaining that the Netherlands lenient drug laws are actually contributing to their steep drop in crime as opposed to the laws in the UK and the US which contribute to a growth in the prison population:

[I]t is estimated that as much as 40% could be in prison for small-time drug crimes which are costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year. In stark contrast, the US is finding that it has to actually open MORE prisons each year while we see the Netherlands is actually being forced to close them. With incentives like Proposition 19 gaining significant traction, and other countries outside the States stating that if Proposition 19 is passed drug reform in the country would occur, a repeat of the events happening in the Netherlands could actually happen in similar smaller countries.

The reason for this would be because state-controlled distribution of marijuana at subsidized prices would cut into illegal drug activites, where huge amounts of crime occur all the way from the cartels to the streets. Violent drug dealers and similar criminals would be driven out of business by the safe, cheap, high quality dispensaries and the community would benefit all round from this.For example, taxing and regulating cannabis would generate up to $1.4 billion in revenue per year for California. Similarly, $200 million of taxpayer money will be saved, due to less inmates in local jails. It is also estimated that California will generate $12-18 billion in spinoff industries such as tourism and coffee houses. The figures would be similar to what Amsterdam currently gets! All these savings could be put towards creating jobs, as it’s estimated that if Prop 19 passes, approximately 100,000 jobs will be created. Passing it would also help fight the Mexican drug cartels and stop the 6k death toll that has occurred this year as a direct result of their actions, as it is estimated that 60% of their income comes from marijuana trafficking.