,529) was for the sale or manufacture of a drug. Simple possession of marijuana accounted for 38.4% (598,694) of the total arrests. Even if only ten percent of the drug dealers were put in prison, the U.S. would have to build four prisons for every one we have now. How many people need to be in prison for drug offenses to effectively control the drug problem? The government has asked the taxpayers to write a blank check for prisons to jail non-violent offenders.Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget increased by more than 1,350%, from $220 million in 1986 to about $3.19 billion in 1997. The ONDCP in its 2000 annual report detailed administration requests for major increases in funding to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for drug-related prison construction. These include an extra $420 Million in fiscal year 2001, and advanced appropriations of $467 Million in 2002, and an additional $316 Million in 2003 - all drug-related. The 1997 National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES) stated, “Treatment appears to be cost effective, particularly when compared to incarceration, which is often the alternative. Treatment costs ranged from a low of $1,800 per client to a high of approximately $6,800 per client.” To contrast, the average cost of incarceration in 1993 (the most recent year available) was $23,406 per inmate per year. For a single drug user to be put in prison, it costs taxpayers about a half million dollars. That includes $150,000 for arrest and prosecution, $150,000 for a new cell, and approximately $30,000 a year for the next five years. In the same respect, that amount of money could provide education and treatment for one hundred people. Which do you think is the better option?In California, and in a few other states, schools, libraries, and medical facilities are being closed in order to build more prisons. The money is being taken from educat...
