A new Justice Policy Institute study states that California leads the nation in drug offender imprisonment with a rate of 115 per 100,000 (the national average is 44 per 100,000). In the past three years, more Californians were imprisoned for simple drug possession (38,716) than for sales and manufacturing drugs (35,276).
According to the study, in 1980, only 379 Californians were imprisoned for drug possession offenses as opposed to 12,749 in 1999. The study also found that counties with stricter drug law enforcement policies did not experience greater crime or drug use declines, and in most instances, drug arrests and imprisonment rates coincided with crime increases or slower crime decreases.
The authors stated that rising rates of drug imprisonment in California were not associated with changes in crime rates. For example, Riverside County’s drug possession imprisonment rate is 500 percent greater than Contra Costa County, yet the violent crime rate is 30 percent lower in Contra Costa.
“The findings cast serious doubt on prison advocate claims that strict and harsh drug enforcement is effective crime control policy,” said Daniel Macallair, co-author of the study. “It is also good news for counties that adopted a more balanced approach to their drug problem.”
For more information, please contact Daniel Macallair or Deborah Vargas of the Justice Policy Institute at (415) 621-5661 or visit www.cjcj.org.
