Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section I: Crime & Punishment in the U.S.

Drugs

  • Pounds of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and hashish (combined) seized by the federal government, 1989118: 1,343,702
  • Pounds of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and hashish (combined) seized by the federal government, 2000119: 2,856,462
  • Value, in dollars, of all assets seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration from 1992 to 2000120: $5.5 billion
  • Percent of population stating that arresting drug users would be very effective at controlling drugs121: 30%
  • Percent stating that drug use should be treated more like a disease than a crime122: 52%
  • Percent of public believing that a small amount of marijuana should not be treated as a criminal offense123: 46%
  • Number of antitrust cases filed in U.S. District Courts, 1975124: 1,467
  • Number of antitrust cases filed in U.S. District Courts, 2000125: 901
  • Number of sentences given for drug law violations in federal court in 1975126: 4,887
  • Number of sentences given for drug law violations in federal court in 2000127: 23,120
  • Number of years of imprisonment given to federal drug offenders convicted in 1999128: 152,528
  • Minimum number of states that conduct random drug tests on prisoners129: 43
  • Number of prisoner samples tested for drugs in 2000130: 2,027,386
  • Number of prisoner samples testing positive for drug use in the facility, 2000131: 61,044
  • Of the 50 states, D.C. and the federal Bureau of Prisons, number of prison systems that drug test all employee applicants132: 12
  • Of the 50 states, D.C. and the federal Bureau of Prisons, number of prison systems that drug test all correctional officer applicants133: 33
  • Of the 50 states, D.C. and the federal Bureau of Prisons, number of prison systems that perform random drug testing on all employees of the institution134: 8

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..