POT PRISONERS COST AMERICANS $1 BILLION A YEAR
The latest numbers are out: nearly 800,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges in 2005. When will the insanity stop?
American taxpayers are now spending more than a billion dollars per year to incarcerate its citizens for pot. That's according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
According to the new BJS report, "Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004," 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses. Combining these percentages with separate U.S. Department of Justice statistics on the total number of state and federal drug prisoners suggests that there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for marijuana offenses. The report failed to include estimates on the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county and/or local jails for pot-related offenses.
Multiplying these totals by U.S. DOJ prison expenditure data reveals that taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders.
The new report is noteworthy because it undermines the common claim from law enforcement officers and bureaucrats, specifically White House drug czar John Walters, that few, if any, Americans are incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses.
In reality, nearly 1 out of 8 U.S. drug prisoners are locked up for pot.
Of course, several hundred thousand more Americans are arrested each year for violating marijuana laws, costing taxpayers another $8 billion dollars annually in criminal justice costs.
2007-02-27 15:43:37 · 3 answers · asked by ricie 2 in News & Events ➔ Current Events
these are not my "rantings", they are from the website lised here to help prove my point.
2007-02-27 16:52:00 · update #1
Soup kitchens can feed the homeless on a dollar per meal = $1092 per year / per person; $1 billion divided by $1092 = 915751 homeless people fed -- for a whole year.
I presume from your otherwise questionless rant that you vote Libertarian, the only political party that recognizes the absurdity of spending this kind of money to incarcerate pot smokers.
Of course if pot were legal, regulated, and taxed, there would be an even bigger pot of money (pun intended) for our politicians to squander... but our society would be better off for it.
2007-02-27 15:58:23 · answer #1 · answered by cmor5859 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
These are disturbing figures and info. I watched a program on MSNBC regarding prisoners. I almost fainted. They have a terrible gang problem So they accommodate each gang by placing them with their own. Who is running the prisons? The warden or the prisoners? I say put the Aryan Brotherhood together with another race and let them finish each other off, put the Mexican gangs in with a race they don't care for the blacks and so on, until the problem is resolved.
In my home state all prisoner work raising crops to feed themselves & raise cattle & hogs for their meat. The left over vegetables are canned and used when needed. Also the Sheriff set-up large tents, no a/c & only space heaters at night if it gets to cold there, this is rare. The all have to wear pink underwear. No tv's, no girly magzines & they are unable to rent movies even if they had a t.v. Up @5:00 A/M. everyday! Tax payers should not have to feed these people, most all prisons have a huge amount of land, I'm sure they could raise thier meats & veggies.
2007-02-27 16:06:14 · answer #2 · answered by NJ 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Is there a question here?
2007-02-27 16:22:15 · answer #3 · answered by sr60308 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋