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Home > News Archive > 2001 > Pot Violators Comprise Largest Percentage of Federal Drug Offenders, Department of Justice Study Shows
Pot Violators Comprise Largest Percentage of Federal Drug Offenders, Department of Justice Study Shows
August 30, 2001 - Washington, DC, USA
Marijuana offenders are referred for federal prosecution in greater numbers than any other drug offenders, according to a study released Sunday by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Authors reported that of the 38,288 suspects referred to U.S. attorneys in 1999 by federal law enforcement agencies, nearly one-third were involved with marijuana. Twenty-eight percent were suspected of powder cocaine violations, 15 percent for crack, 15 percent for methamphetamine, and seven percent for opiates. About 84 percent of all suspects referred were eventually charged in federal court.
"Despite the government's denials, these statistics show that that America's 'war on drugs' is primarily a war on marijuana smokers," said NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup.
The study also found that the total number of drug defendants nearly tripled from 1984 to 1999. Drug prosecutions now comprise 32 percent of the total federal criminal caseload, authors reported.
For more information, please contact Donna Shea, Legal Director of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-8751. Copies of the DOJ study are available online at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/fdo99.txt.
updated: Jan 08, 1930
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