Drug Fact 1

The United States of America prides itself on being the land of freedom. However, this is a questionable assertion considering that it incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other country in the world. The land of the free houses 25% of the world’s prisoners despite having less than 5% of the world’s population. It incarcerates a percentage of its citizens three times higher than the theocracy, Iran, and five times higher than the Communist state, China. This is attributable to America’s zealous drug war with there being seven times more drug prisoners in 2000 than there were in 1980. We are incarcerating more and more American drug users to “help them.”

Politicians have gone to the “get tough on drugs” well so many times that the injustice now reaches absurdity. The average sentence for a first time, non-violent drug offender is longer than for rape, child molestation, bank robbery, or manslaughter.

One example is Doug Gray. Gray had a wife, a son, and his own roofing business. He was a Vietnam veteran who lost his leg in the war and was a casual marijuana user. Gray was offered a pound of marijuana at a bargain price. Gray figured he could smoke it and sell the rest to his friends. The seller was paid by drug agents to make the offer and due to mandatory sentencing, Gray is now serving a life sentence. The Alabama taxpayers will pay roughly $25,000 annually to house, feed, and medically treat Gray until his death.

The situation is so unjust that numerous judges and even prosecutors have openly criticized mandatory minimum sentences. In 1993, 50 senior federal judges refused to hear any more drug cases. In addition, because of mandatory minimum sentences violent offenders, e.g. murderers and rapists, are routinely released early to make room for people like Doug Gray.

Year	Federal Cost (billions)	Incarcerated	% of U.S. Pop.	% Growth of % of U.S. Pop.
1980	$1.5 (1981)	503,586	.22
1985		744,208	.31	41
1990	$9.8	1,148,702	.46	48
1995	$13.3	1,585,586	.59	28
2000	$18.5	1,937,482	.69	17
2005	†	2,186,230 (mid-year)	.74	7

Crime

Punishment

Murder (all degrees)

6.3 years, average served.

Parole allowed.

Marijuana (large amount)

10 years, mandatory minimum. No parole allowed.

^†In 2003 the government changed its drug control cost reporting to only include funds for agencies entirely devoted to drug control. This pork-hiding shenanigan “slashed” spending by 40% and has made comparison difficult.