Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined
Drug-possession arrests skyrocketed from fewer than 200 arrests for every 100,000 people in 1979 to more than 500 in the mid-2000s
The Washington Post (US)
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
On any given day in the United States, at least 137,000 people sit behind bars on simple drug-possession charges, according to a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch. Nearly two-thirds of them are in local jails. The report says that most of these jailed inmates have not been convicted of any crime: They're sitting in a cell, awaiting a day in court, an appearance that may be months or even years off, because they can't afford to post bail.
