drugwarfacts.org

Prisons - Table - 1-30-12

Prisons & Drug Offenders - Tables

(1980, 1990, 2000 and 2007-2009 - persons under control of the U.S. corrections system for “drugs”) The table below estimates the number of persons under control of the U.S. corrections system with a conviction for “drugs” as their most serious offense. It shows that in 2009, there were almost 1.7 million people who were on probation or parole or were incarcerated in state or federal prison for “drug” offenses. During the 20 years since 1990, the number of “drug” offenders grew in these four categories as a total by +78.9%. However, since that year, the number of prisoners housed in federal prisons for “drugs” exploded from 30,470 to almost 100,000, a rate of +212.5%. In 1980, there were only 4,900 prisoners housed in federal facilities for “drugs.” A conviction of “drugs” as the most serious offense had about one quarter of all probationers, parolees and prisoners under the control of the U.S. criminal justice system in 2009.