Ian
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Adam Stevens
> Sent: Monday, June 07, 1999 12:43 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: Re: Life in prison for stealing food
>
>
> A>
> >>Along with the drug war (which is a smaller factor than it's sometimes
> >>made out to be)
> >
> >Yeah, I was surprised at how low - relatively speaking - the
> drug share is,
> >as outrageous and stupid as the war on drugs is. In 1996, 26% of
> prisoners
> >(292,000 of them) were in for drug offenses, and drug convictions were
> >responsible for 29% of the growth in the prison pop from 1990-96. That
> >means the drug share is increasing, but not anywhere near as much as you
> >might expect.
> >
> >Doug>
>
> Keep in mind that in 1971 there were fewer than 200,000 inmates
> in US state
> and federal prisons for ALL crimes combined. So if there are
> "only" 292,000
> people incarcerated for drug offenses, that's still nearly
> 100,000 more than
> were locked up for all offenses before the incarceration boom started.
> There are now about 1.2 million in state and federal prisons, and
> the total
> is about 1.7 million if local jail populations are included.
>
>
>