Drug Usage & Crime
What portion of all inmates in local jails and state prisons meet the criteria for drug dependence or abuse?
Correct Answer
A scientific survey conducted by the DOJ in 2007 to 2009 found that "more than half (58%) of state prisoners and two-thirds (63%) of sentenced jail inmates met the criteria for drug dependence or abuse." These rates are about 12 times the rate of drug dependence or abuse among adults in the general population. Contrary to the belief that prisons are teeming with people who have committed no crime but drug usage, a 2005 paper in the journal Contemporary Drug Problems found that only "0.5% to 3.6% of all prison inmates" in 1997 were incarcerated "solely for their drug use." Similar results were found in a study published by the journal Criminology & Public Policy in 2006. Another study found that 62% of drug offenders released from prison in 2012 were arrested for a non-drug crime within 5 years. Instead of people being jailed for drug use, these studies show that drug usage is strongly associated with the commission of other crimes.