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About twenty-five years ago New York State passed some of the toughest drug laws in the nation. How are they working ? Take a look at these facts and decide for yourself… · The New York State Department of Justice Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that in 2000 there were 47,582 adult felony drug arrests and 117,738 adult misdemeanor drug arrests. No breakdown of those figures by substance is provided.
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As of Dec. 31, 1998,
there were 22,386 drug offenders in the NYS prison system, about 33% of the
entire prison population. It costs over $715 million per year to
keep these people in prison.
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In 1980, 886 drug
offenders were sent to prison, 11% of the total incarcerated that year. In 1998,
9,063 drug offenders were sent to prison, 46% of the total prison population.
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Of all drug offenders
sent to prison in 1997, nearly 80% were never convicted of a violent felony.
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Twenty-five percent of
the drug offenders in NYS prisons were convicted of simple drug possession.
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Sixty percent of the
drug offenders in the NYS prison system were convicted of the three lowest
felonies -Class C, D. or E, which involve tiny drug amounts.
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Studies show that the
majority of people who use and sell drugs in New York State, as in the rest of
the country, are white.
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Ninety-four percent of
the drug offenders in NYS prisons are people of color, whites make up 5%.
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More than 56% of the
women in NYS prisons are there for drug offenses. Ninety-one percent of these
are women of color.
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The cost of keeping an
inmate in a NYS prison for a year is about $32,000
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The cost of outpatient
drug treatment usually runs between $3000 and
$5000 per year.
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Studies show that it is easier today for
a teenager to buy marijuana than it is for him to buy alcohol.
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Violent offenders are
being released to make room for non-violent drug offenders serving
mandatory-minimum sentences. · New York State increased its 1998 corrections budget by about $680 million. The same year, the state money going to higher education was cut by about $680 million.
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