Indopedia All Things Marijuana
At a time when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants federal prosecutors to seek the maximum penalties in all drug-related crimes, a new study finds that incarcerating the average user does nothing to prevent them from returning to dope in the future.
A recent analysis provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows there is “no statistically significant relationship between states’ drug offender imprisonment rates and three measures of drug problems: rates of illicit use, overdose deaths, and arrests.”
The latest findings are consistent with the organization’s previous research, which illustrates how the federal sentencing laws put on the books during the Ronald Regan era have only filled up the prisons with non-violent drug offenders.
In a letter sent to President Trump’s newly formed Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, which is being overseen by cannabis legalization opponent New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, researchers pointed out that state and federal penitentiaries are now home to more drug offenders than in the 1980’s. Yet, despite the nation’s obsession with imprisoning its way out of this situation, the drug problem…
