Roscoe P. Coltrane? Sorry, I lost you in the "Night of the Living Pings". A google search yields tons of results, alot of which are crap, but some of which are enlightening. From the CATO Institute: "Total drug arrests are now more than 1.5 million a year. There are about 400,000 drug offenders in jails and prison now, and over 80 percent of the increase in the federal prison population from 1985 to 1995 was due to drug convictions. Drug offenders constituted 59.6 percent of all federal prisoners in 1996, up from 52.6 percent in 1990. (Those in federal prison for violent offenses fell from 18 percent to 12.4 percent of the total, while property offenders fell from 14 percent to 8.4 percent.) Yet as was the case during Prohibition, all the arrests and incarcerations haven't stopped the use and abuse of drugs, or the drug trade, or the crime associated with black-market transactions."
Of course, what I'm talking about here is legalization of marijuana, not harder and more volatile drugs like cocaine, pcp, etc.
Here's my two-cents:
At midyear 2000 the Nation's prisons and jails incarcerated 1,931,859 persons. Prisoners in the custody of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Government, accounted for two-thirds of the incarcerated population,or 1,310,710 inmates. The other third were held in local jails, a total of 621,149.
Of the 1,310,710 in federal and state prisons the breakdown is as follows:
Violent Offenses.... 629,140
Property Offenses... 270,006
Drug Offenses........ 276,559
Disorder Offenses... 132,381
Of the 621,149 offenders in local jails throughout America, roughly 70% where incarcerated for drug related offenses. Thats a total of 434,804.
Take the 276,559 drug offenders in federal and state prisons and add the 434,804 drug offenders in local jails throughout the USA and the TOTAL DRUG OFFENDERS IN PRISONS AND JAILS TOTAL = 711,363.
Subtract the 711,363 drug offenders from the total of 1,931,859. That means there are 1,220,496 individuals in prisons and jails. Thats a difference of 509,133.
That means only 36.8%, of all individuals in prisons and jails, are incarerated for drug law violations. And only 21% of federal inmates, are there for drug law violations.
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Source: Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997, and Prisoners in 2000
Violent offenses include murder, negligent and non-negligent manslaughter,rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion, intimidation, criminal endangerment, and other violent offenses.
Property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, fraud, possession and selling of stolen property, destruction of property, trespassing, vandalism, criminal tampering, and other property offenses.
Drug offenses include possession, manufacturing, trafficking, and other drug offenses.
Public-order offenses include weapons, drunk driving, escape/flight to avoid prosecution, court offenses, obstruction, commercialized vice, morals and decency charges, liquor law violations, and other public-order offenses. =====================================================================
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2000
Number of persons in custody of State correctional authorities by most serious offense, 1980-99