Mass Criminalization

The Basics
With only 5% of the world's population, the U.S. has 25% of the world's prison population.
The U.S. incarcerates more people - in absolute numbers and per capita - than any other nation in the world.
The number of Americans incarcerated for drug offenses today is larger than the entire prison and jail population was in 1980.
1 in 4 jail inmates in 2002 was in jail for a drug offense, compared to 1 in 10 in 1983.
If we want to solve our nation’s drug problems, we need to focus less on obtaining convictions and more on preventing addictions. We should be treating people with addictions, not handcuffing them.
 
The United States is home to less than 5 percent of the world’s population but nearly 25 percent of its prisoners, in part because of the overly harsh consequences of a drug conviction. Many of the 2.3 million people behind bars (and 5 million under criminal justice supervision) in this country are being punished for a drug offense. If every American who has ever possessed illicit drugs were punished for it, nearly half of the U.S. population would have drug violations on their records. The penalties for drug possession often consign otherwise law-abiding citizens to a life of hardship and ultimately harm people more than the drug itself.
 
The consequences of any drug conviction are life-long and severe, and are not experienced equally. Despite comparable drug use and selling rates across racial groups, African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately punished for drug law violations. Drug violations are an easy solution for police officers pressed for high arrest quotas, resulting in thousands of wrongful arrests that overwhelmingly victimize communities of color. The Drug Policy Alliance is leading the movement to eliminate criminal penalties for drug possession, to end the life-time barriers that are the consequences of conviction, and to end the racism inherent in the drug war.