[KDD]

When has ANYONE been imprisoned for smoking pot?

WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) - A new study (Tuesday) says nearly 60,000 marijuana offenders are in jail in the United States at any given time.

The study, by the Federation of American Scientists, says more than one- fourth of those inmates are incarcerated for personal possession of marijuana, with no other drugs involved in the offense. Copyright 1999 by United Press International

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3766be45611d.htm

[robertpaulsen]

That jibes with my figures (under "Totals and Costs"), although mine are from 1998. Also, this figure is for both prisons and jails.

But with 646,000 arrests, this figure means that just a little over 2% of arrestees will serve time. This is a problem? Also, I would guess that those who do serve time in jail or prison (for simple possesson) either had multiple arrests for possession, or were carrying a whole bunch of pot. In that case, they could be considered to be arrested for stupidity.