# US Prisons and Trivial Drug Offenses. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168 "2012-02-08T06:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/1 "2012-02-08T06:29:20Z")
Is it true **most** of the population in US prisons are people only guilty of trivial drug offenses? (When I say “most” I mean a clear majority, or at least a clear plurality of offenses if nothing else.) I don’t have a cite where exactly I first heard this. (Cecil alludes a little bit to it [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2494/does-the-united-states-lead-the-world-in-prison-population).) I guess it’s just anecdote. But is it true? (BTW, I did agonize where this should go. But I finally settled on GQ, because I want a **factual** , statistical answer. Please don’t turn this into a debate:).) Thank you in advance to all who reply:) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/2 "2012-02-08T06:33:38Z")
Looks like [violent crimes](http://bjs.gov/content/glance/corrtyp.cfm)make up half the population ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/3 "2012-02-08T06:40:22Z")
Wanted to add: If you click on the graph, the raw numbers seem to show a huge growth in drug crimes, probably due to the crack epidemic, mandatory sentencing guidelines, and maybe three strikes. I’m really just googling and guessing ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/4 "2012-02-08T08:14:22Z")
Ok I am on the law enforcement side and not the prison side. Trivial drug offenses usually result in a summons. First offenses are usually wiped out by pre-trial intervention. Beyond that it usually results in fines. Short county jail stints might come from many offenses. I have only seen serious prison time to serious dealers. And then usually only after multiple offenses. Particularly with marijuana you need to be moving some serious weight before you’ll see prison. Dealing a few dime bags won’t do it. Of course things like this vary greatly from state to state. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/5 "2012-02-08T09:25:41Z")
It’s complicated, I think, because long-term prisoners are… long-term. Thus 30 or 40 short term prisoners (possibly drug related) pass through during the length of one long-term sentence. So if you take a snap shot, it will seem perhaps 50% are short-term, but if you take it over a 10-year period… ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/6 "2012-02-08T22:41:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Ok I am on the law enforcement side and not the prison side. Trivial drug offenses usually result in a summons. First offenses are usually wiped out by pre-trial intervention. Beyond that it usually results in fines. Short county jail stints might come from many offenses. I have only seen serious prison time to serious dealers. And then usually only after multiple offenses. Particularly with marijuana you need to be moving some serious weight before you’ll see prison. Dealing a few dime bags won’t do it. > > Of course things like this vary greatly from state to state. Thank you. I have often wondered about that. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/7 "2012-02-08T23:26:33Z")
Roughly half are imprisoned on drug offenses. [http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4](http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4) ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/8 "2012-02-08T23:31:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Efforts to combat illegal drugs play a major role in explaining long prison sentences in the United States as well. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000. > **[U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations (Published 2008)](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all)** ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/9 "2012-02-08T23:37:28Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Roughly half are imprisoned on drug offenses. > [BOP: Statistics](http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4) I believe that is just federal prison vs. my link which shows that it is violent crime, But I’m prepared to be corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/10 "2012-02-08T23:48:36Z")
What’s a trivial drug offense? Just possession? Distribution of enough for a few people? All non-violent offenses? ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/11 "2012-02-09T00:51:15Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > What’s a trivial drug offense? Just possession? Distribution of enough for a few people? All non-violent offenses? Kind of depends on how much of and what kind of drug you’re caught with. That and what state you’re in when you get caught. IMHO, there isn’t a ‘simple’ answer to that question. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/12 "2012-02-09T01:05:03Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > IMHO, there isn’t a ‘simple’ answer to that question. That’s why I was asking the OP about what he meant by the term. ---
**Author:** ![KneeSid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dec6dc/32.png) [@KneeSid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneeSid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/13 "2012-02-09T01:34:45Z")
Part of it is how bad they want you. If you’re a bad ass gang leader and the law wants you, you are gonna cop a longer sentence than if you’re not. Remember the IRS didn’t really care about Al Capone, but that was all they could get him on and put him away for. So you may be in for a long prison term on a “minor” offense, simply because the law wants you and that is all they can get you for. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/14 "2012-02-09T01:35:52Z")
An [article I read recently](http://nplusonemag.com/raise-the-crime-rate) had this to say: > [@article](#): > > When evaluating the impact of the war on drugs on the country’s incarceration crisis, it helps to keep in mind a statistical nuance: a large fraction of prison sentences are for nonviolent drug offenses, but a small fraction of the prison population is in for a nonviolent drug crime. This is because, despite the harshness of mandatory minimum sentences, drug criminals don’t spend nearly as much time in prison as other kinds of criminals. It doesn’t specify the definition for “nonviolent drug offense”, or state where the data comes from, but the reasoning makes sense on its face. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/15 "2012-02-09T01:39:31Z")
A more interesting (and much less answerable) question is how many people progress to more serious drug crimes simply because a trivial crime got them an introduction to the prison system and its crime networks, that they would not otherwise have encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/16 "2012-02-09T03:08:07Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > That’s why I was asking the OP about what he meant by the term. I don’t know if it’s too late to answer (I don’t want to impede the flow of the discussion;)). But I meant primarily simple possession. But I like **Richard Parker** ’s definition too (if I can turn it from a question into a statement): > [@](#): > > …Just possession[?] Distribution of enough for a few people[?] All non-violent offenses[?]… ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-prisons-and-trivial-drug-offenses/612168/17 "2012-02-09T12:47:07Z")
Not to mention, we can attach the words “drug-related crime” to a wide variety of crimes. Mellow hippie busted for a growing operation in his back yard? Drug crime. L.A. gangsta kills someone in a drug deal gone bad? Drug crime? Strung-out junkie desperate for his next fix robs a convenience store at gunpoint? Drug crime? College kid gets busted with a dime bag? Drug crime. Obviously there’s a lot of variance in what constitutes a drug crime.