Record-high ratio of Americans in prison - Yahoo! News

Record-high ratio of Americans in prison

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.


Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation.







if this isnt a reason to decriminalize marijuana, im not really sure what is.


in 2004 there were about 70,000 people in custody due to marijuana based offenses..you can just guess how many others are in for other such small offenses.

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dont worry, NOTHING i have said is true
legalize!

Yep old news, the freest country in the world is also the the prison capital of the world. It's a business too, we like business...LOL.

Just another good reason to decriminalize at the very least. 1% of our population is incarcerated. I wonder what percentage of that 1% represents non-violent cannabis offenders.

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The vast majority of "non-violent" offenders are people who can pay the system. The system tends to ignore or spring the dead-beats, illegal aliens, the old, the infirmed, or anyone else who would put a financial drain on the legal machine. Once a person has a record for a stupid offense, like possession or distribution, the only jobs he can get are junk minimum wage. So then he becomes a real criminal to pay the rent.

"data released last year by the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses."

From NORML.ORG

And just to put things into perspective...arrests for marijuana are up and we think it's getting closer to legalization....think again. And the newly resigned DEA Chief, Mrs. Tandy has declared us all international terrorists. Now she is the CEO at Motorola...LOL.

So what is everyone doing about it?

Oh snap we are insergants next month guys watch it.......The word terrorist is crazy I dont even own finger nail clippers

theres more of us.. she cant take us all.

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And so it has begun...