HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 23 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

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This graph shows that 68% of people in jail have a substance use disorder, compared to 9% of the general population, meaning that people in jail are 8 times more likely to have a substance use disorder compared to the general population.

Data Source: J. Karberg and D. James, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Reports, "Substance Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment of Jail Inmates 2002". (Graph: Alexi Jones, 2019)

This graph originally appeared in Does our county really need a bigger jail? A guide for avoiding unnecessary jail expansion.



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