Drug Policy

  • Florida Senate Report: Review Penalties for Drug-Free Zone Violations [PDF]
    Florida Senate, October, 2012
    “The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing did not find that “length of sentence or imposition of a mandatory minimum term per se were predictors of recidivism.”
  • Breakthrough in U.S. Drug Sentencing Reform The Fair Sentencing Act and the Unfinished Reform Agenda, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, November, 2011
    “Efforts are underway among the advocacy community to build upon the sentence reduction embraced by the Fair Sentencing Act and to capitalize on the reform movement that has been gaining momentum at the state level.”
  • Cracked Justice [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, March, 2011
    “In Missouri, a defendant convicted of selling six grams of crack cocaine faces the same prison term –a ten-year mandatory minimum – as someone who sells 450 grams of powder cocaine, or 75 times that amount.”
  • Drug Courts Are Not the Answer Toward a Health-Centered Approach to Drug Use, [PDF]
    Drug Policy Alliance, March, 2011
    “Incarceration, when used to punish continued drug use or relapse, is [...] at odds with a health approach [...]. In a treatment setting, relapse is met with more intensive services. In drug court, relapse is often met with [...] removal of treatment...”
  • Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission Final Report, [PDF]
    Illinois Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission, December, 2010
    “Statewide, among defendants with a Class 4 possession charge, African-Americans were sentenced to prison at a rate almost five times greater than whites: 19 percent of African-American defendants compared with 4 percent of white defendants.”
  • America's Problem-Solving Courts The Criminal Costs of Treatment and the Case for Reform, [PDF]
    National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, September, 2009
    “Conditioning treatment on an arrest and entry in the criminal justice system sends a perverse message to the person and is an enormous waste of scarce public and court resources.”
  • Drug Courts: A Review of the Evidence, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, April, 2009
    “An analysis of research findings from 76 drug courts found a 10% reduction in rearrest.”
  • The Rockefeller Drug Laws: Unjust, Irrational, Ineffective, [PDF]
    New York Civil Liberties Union, March, 2009
    “New York’s mandatory-minimum drug sentencing scheme has [...] not reduced the availability of drugs or deterred their use; it has not made us safer.”
    (This report documents the harms of mandatory-sentencing drug laws, focusing on their ineffectiveness and racial and fiscal impact. This report suggests a that rehabilitative approach to drug policy would be more sucessful.)
  • Reaching too far, coming up short: How large sentencing enhancement zones miss the mark,
    Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2009
    “Massachusetts cannot afford to preserve a law that fails to protect children while draining the state coffers and incarcerating Latinos and Blacks at a rate 26 to 30 times as frequently as Whites.”
  • The Geography of Punishment: How Huge Sentencing Enhancement Zones Harm Communities, Fail to Protect Children,
    Prison Policy Initiative, July, 2008
    “Our analysis found that less than a third (29%) of White Hampden County residents live in enhancement zones, but that more than half (52%) of Black and Latino residents live in school zones.”
    (Finds zone law fails to move drug crimes away from schools while increasing racial disparities in sentencing.)
  • Disparity By Geography: The War on Drugs in America's Cities,
    The Sentencing Project, May, 2008
    “Documents the growth in drug arrests at the city-level between 1980 and 2003 and the role of the "war on drugs" in expanding racial disparity in the criminal justice system.”
  • The Vortex: The Concentrated Racial Impact of Drug Imprisonment and the Characteristics of Punitive Counties,
    Justice Policy Institute, December, 2007
    “The report documents racial disparities in the use of prison for drug offenses in 193 of the 198 counties that reported to government entities.”
  • A 25-Year Quagmire: The War on Drugs and Its Impact on American Society,
    Sentencing Project, September, 2007
    “Four of five (81.7%) drug arrests were for possession offenses, and 42.6% were for marijuana charges in 2005.”
    ("Drug offenders in prisons and jails have increased 1100% since 1980. Nearly a half-million (493,800) persons are in state or federal prison or local jail for a drug offense...")
  • Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy [PDF]
    United States Sentencing Commission, May, 2007
    “Federal cocaine sentencing policy... continues to come under almost universal criticism... and inaction in this area is of increasing concern to many, including the Commission.”
  • Through a Different Lens: Shifting the Focus on Illinois Drug Policy, An examination of states' solutions and applicability to Illinois, [PDF]
    Roosevelt University - Institute for Metropolitan Affairs, May, 2007
    “[I]f $20 million of Illinois state dollars were invested in the model alternative to incarceration program, Illinois taxpayers have the potential to save between $50 and $150 million per year.”
    (An overview of 20 years of changes in Illinois drug laws and how they led to ever-increasing levels of incarceration.)
  • DTAP (Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison) Sixteenth Annual Report [PDF]
    Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney, April, 2007
    “In its sixteenth year of operation, DTAP continued to maintain high treatment retention and low recidivism rates and to produce enormous cost savings.”
  • Supplemental Report on New Jersey's Drug Free Zone Crimes & Proposal For Reform, [PDF]
    The New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing, April, 2007
    (The commission restates its findings from last year's report, emphasizing their reliability and significance. Adding new arguments, it urges the legislature to act on its recommendations to reduce the size of the drug free zones in New Jersey.)
  • Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act: Final Report, [PDF]
    University Of California Los Angeles and Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, April, 2007
    “SACPA represents a major shift in criminal justice policy, inasmuch as adults convicted of [eligible] nonviolent drug offenses... can now be sentenced to probation with drug treatment instead of either probation without treatment or incarceration.”
  • New Jersey's Drug Courts, Special Probation and Proposal for Reform [PDF]
    The New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing, April, 2007
    “[P]rograms that combine comprehensive treatment, intensive supervision and judicial oversight cost substantially less than prolonged periods of imprisonment... the public benefits not only from the reduction in crime, but also from significant savings...”
  • Cracks in the System: Twenty Years of the Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law, [PDF]
    ACLU, October, 2006
    “Although there are more white cocaine users, national drug enforcement and prosecutorial policies and practices have resulted in inner city communities of color being targeted almost exclusively.”
  • Progress and Challenges: An analysis of drug treatment and imprisonment in Maryland from 2000 to 2005, [PDF]
    Justice Policy Institute, September, 2006
    “Crime trends since 2000 appear to support the argument that treatment does more than imprisonment to reduce crime.”
  • The Next Big Thing? Methamphetamine In the United States, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, June, 2006
    “This report examines the development of methamphetamine as the”
  • Drugs and crime in Ireland Overview 3, [PDF]
    Health Research Board, May, 2006
    (The report examines the perceived and actual links between drugs and crime in Ireland.)
  • Harmful Drug Law Hits Home: How Many College Students Have Lost Their Financial Aid Due to Drug Convictions?, [PDF]
    Students for Sensible Drug Policy, May, 2006
  • Proposition 36: Five Years Later
    Justice Policy Institute, April, 2006
    “California Sees Greatest Drop in Drug Prisoners among Large State Prison Systems since Prop. 36 [was] enacted.”
  • Disparity by Design: How drug-free zone laws impact racial disparity - and fail to protect youth,
    Justice Policy Institute, March, 2006
    “[D]rugfree zone laws... are not effective in reducing the sale or use of drugs, or in protecting school children - and the role these laws play to increase unwarranted racial disparity is well documented.”
  • Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act: Cost Analysis Report (first and second years),
    UCLA, March, 2006
  • Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004 [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006
    “Among drug dependent or abusing prisoners, 40% of State and 49% of Federal inmates took part in drug abuse treatment or programs since admission to prison.”
    (Presents data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities on prisoners' prior use, dependence, and abuse of illegal drugs.)
  • Report on New Jersey's Drug-Free Zone Crimes and Proposal For Reform
    New Jersey Commission To Review Criminal Sentencing, December, 2005
  • Rethinking the Consequences of Decriminalizing Marijuana [PDF]
    The JFA Institute, November, 2005
  • Efficacy and Impact: The Criminal Justice Response to Marijuana Policy in the United States,
    Justice Policy Institute, August, 2005
  • Substance Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment of Jail Inmates, 2002 [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, July, 2005
  • The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs in the 1990s, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, May, 2005
  • Who's Really in Prison for Marijuana? [PDF]
    Office of National Drug Control Policy, May, 2005
  • Judicial Response to Proposed Substance Abuse Treatment Legislation in Wisconsin Results of Three Focus Groups,
    Wisconsin Sentencing Commission, March, 2005
  • Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families, [PDF]
    ACLU, Break the Chains and Brennan Center, March, 2005
  • Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States,
    NORML Foundation, 2005
  • Unjust and Counterproductive: New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws, [PDF]
    Physicians for Human Rights, September, 2004
  • Arizona Prison Crisis: A Call for Smart on Crime Solutions, [PDF]
    Families Against Mandatory Minimums, May, 2004
  • Race and Drug Law Enforcement in Seattle [PDF]
    Defender Association's Racial Disparity Project, May, 2004
  • Drug Abuse in America: Rural Meth, [PDF]
    Council of State Governments, March, 2004
  • Treatment or Incarceration: National and State Findings on the Efficacy and Cost Savings of Drug Treatment Versus Imprisonment,
    Justice Policy Institute, March, 2004
  • Cost and Benefits? The Impact of Drug Imprisonment in New Jersey, [PDF]
    Justice Policy Institute, November, 2003
  • State of the States: Drug Policy Reforms, 1996-2002,
    Drug Policy Alliance, September, 2003
  • The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Legalization in Massachusetts
    Change the Climate, August, 2003
  • The Economics of Drug Selling: A Review of the Research, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, April, 2003
  • Washington State's Drug Courts for Adult Defendants: Outcome Evaluation and Cost-Benefit Analysis,
    Washington State Institute for Public Policy, March, 2003
    “We found that the five adult drug courts generate $1.74 in benefits for each dollar of costs. Thus, adult drug courts appear to be cost-effective additions to Washington’s criminal justice system.”
  • Drug Use and Justice 2002: An Examination of California Drug Policy Enforcement, [PDF]
    Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, December, 2002
  • Trends in Substance Abuse and Treatment Needs Among Inmates Final Reports, [PDF]
    National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), October, 2002
  • Distorted Priorities: Drug Offenders in State Prisons, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, September, 2002
  • Population Impact of Mass Incarceration under New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws: an Analysis of Years of Life Lost, [PDF]
    Ernest Drucker, September, 2002
  • Drug War Facts [Website]
    Common Sense for Drug Policy, May, 2002
    (Summaries with footnotes of major research on the war on drugs. Read individual chapters or download the whole thing)
  • Drug and Crime Facts [Website]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, May, 2002
    “This site summarizes U.S. statistics about drug-related crimes, law enforcement, courts, and corrections from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and non-BJS sources”
  • Defining the Disparity -Taking A Closer Look: Do Drug Use Patterns Explain Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Drug Arrests in Minnesota, [PDF]
    Council on Crime and Justice, April, 2002
    “For African American males the reported drug use rate was 51% greater than White males, while the arrest rate was 400% higher nationally and 1000% higher in Minnesota.”
  • Why the Department of Justice is Wrong About Cocaine Sentencing [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, 2002
  • Race and Class Penalties in Crack Cocaine Sentencing [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, 2002
  • Pulse Check: Trends in Drug Abuse November 2001
    Office of National Drug Control Policy, November, 2001
  • Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends 1984-99 [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics,, August, 2001
    “Federal drug law changes led to longer prison sentences”
  • Drug Policy and the Criminal Justice System [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, August, 2001
  • An Empirical Study of the School Zone Law in Three Cities in Massachusetts, [PDF]
    Join Together, July, 2001
    “MA law requiring mandatory sentences for selling drugs near schools does not and can not increase safety near schools”
    (Fall River, New Bedford and Springfield)
  • Crack Cocaine Sentencing Policy: Unjustified and Unreasonable, [PDF]
    Sentencing Project, 2001
  • Drug War Clock
    Drug Sense, 2001
    (See how much has been spent this year on the drug war. Also shows the number of drug war arrests and prison sentences.)
  • Drug Use and Justice: An Examination of California Drug Policy Enforcement, [PDF]
    Justice Policy Institute, October, 2000
  • Poor Prescription: The Costs of Imprisoning Drug Offenders in the United States, [PDF]
    Justice Policy Institute, July, 2000
  • Collateral Casualties Children of Incarcerated Drug Offenders in New York,
    Human Rights Watch, June, 2000
    “An estimated 23,537 children currently have parents in New York prisons convicted of drug charges.”
  • Drug Use, Testing, and Treatment in Jails [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, May, 2000
    “Most Jails that test for drugs find at least one inmate who tests positive”
  • Do Drug Courts Save Jail and Prison Beds? [PDF]
    Vera Institute of Justice, 2000
  • The Path to Prison: A Response to The Governor's Assessment of Drug Offender Incarceration Rates,
    Human Rights Watch, May, 1999
    (powerful myth/fact format)
  • Who Goes to Prison for Drug Offenses? A Rebuttal to the New York State District Attorneys Association,
    Human Rights Watch, January, 1999
  • Official Data Reveal Most New York Drug Offenders Are Nonviolent
    Human Rights Watch, January, 1999
  • Substance Abuse and Treatment of State and Federal Prisoners, 1997 [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, January, 1999
    “More than three-quarters of prisoners had abused drugs in the past”
  • Double Jeopardy: An Assessment of the Felony Drug Provision of the Welfare Reform Act, [PDF]
    Justice Policy Institute, October, 1998
  • Substance Abuse and Treatment of Adults on Probation, 1995 [PDF]
    Bureau of Justice Statistics, March, 1998
  • Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population, [PDF]
    Charles E. Culpeper Foundation and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, January, 1998
    “Three years in the making, this CASA report is the most penetrating analysis ever attempted of the relationship of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction to the explosion of America's prison population.”
  • Profile of anti-drug law enforcement in urban poverty areas in Massachusetts, [PDF]
    William N. Brownsberger, November, 1997
  • Cruel and Usual: Disproportionate Sentences for New York Drug Offenders,
    Human Rights Watch, March, 1997
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Throwing Away the Key or the Taxpayers Money?,
    RAND Foundation, 1997
  • War on Drugs: New York Policies and Some Sober Thoughts, [PDF]
    New York State Coalition for Criminal Justice, September, 1989

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