Do government statistics on non-violent marijuana incarcerations show that the punishment fits the crime?

According to Who’s really in Prison for Marijuana?, a well-researched publication by the Office of National Drug Control Policy publication, using data from 1997, U. S. drug policy makes sense.

Who’s Really in Prison for Marijuana?

[Quotes are extracted.]

The truth, supported overwhelmingly by the best data available, is that our prisons are not overflowing with people arrested just for smoking pot. On the contrary, we are seeking — through new treatment­-oriented approaches such as drug courts — to divert those whose involvement with drugs is limited to their own use, while actively working to disrupt drug­ trafficking
organizations by prosecuting those who distribute or deal in illicit drugs. (See Foreward, Page 7.)

. . . In 1997, the year for which the most recent data are available, just 1.6 percent of the state inmate population were held for offenses involving only marijuana, and less than one percent of all state prisoners (0.7 percent) were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). An even smaller fraction of state prisoners in 1997 who were convicted just for marijuana possession were first­ time offenders (0.3 percent).

The numbers on the federal level tell a similar story. Out of all drug defendants sentenced in federal court for marijuana crimes in 2001, the overwhelming majority were convicted for trafficking, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Only 2.3 percent—186 people—received sentences for simple possession, and of the 174 for whom sentencing information is known, just 63 actually served time behind bars. (See page 9.)

. . . Recent BJS estimates based on prisoner surveys show that at midyear 2002, approximately 8,400 state prison inmates were serving time for marijuana possession (any amount), and fewer than half of them were first­time offenders. The point here is inescapable: Of the more than 1.2 million people serving time in state prisons across America, only 3,600 individuals were sentenced on a first offense for possession of marijuana. Again, this figure includes possession of any amount. (See Page 20.)

. . . In 1998, Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) published the results of a three­-year study into drug and alcohol abuse/addiction among inmates in federal and state prisons and local jails. In “Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population,” which used information collected by BJS and other sources, CASA showed just how groundless is the claim that nonviolent offenders guilty of mere possession are filling our jails and prisons. Based on the available data, “it appears that few inmates could be in prison or jail solely for possession of small amounts of marijuana,” said the report. “Indeed,” it continued, “the number is likely so small that it would have little or no impact on overcrowding or the vast gap between the need for treatment and training and available slots.” (See Page 21.)

To read the full article, see the link above.

For an analysis that does not consider the number of questionable marijuana incarcerations “so small,” please visit the next page.