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May 2000 
Vol. 12, No. 2 (G)
UNITED STATES

Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs

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I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations

II: The Extent of U.S. Incarceration

 Table 1:  State Prison Incarceration Rates per 100,000 Residents at Midyear 1999

III. INCARCERATION AND RACE
Admissions to Prison
Overrepresentation of Blacks in Prison
Rates of Incarceration
Rates of Incarceration of Black and White Men

Figure 1: Admissions to State and Federal Prison by Race, 1980-1996
Table 2:  Percentage of new Admissions to State Prison by Race
Figure 2:  Proportion of Blacks among State Residents and in Prison Population
Figure 3:  State Incarceration Rates by Race
Table 3:  Rates of Incarceration by Race, 1996 (with Black/White Ratio)
Table 4:  State Incarceration Rates by Race for 1988 and 1996
Figure 4:  Male Incarceration Rates by Race
Table 5:  State Incarceration Rates of Adult Males by Race (with Black/White Ratio)
Table 6:  Fraction of Black and White Male Population in Prison

IV. THE ROLE OF VIOLENT CRIME IN U.S. INCARCERATION RATES

Table 7:  Proportion of Violent and Nonviolent Offenders among Admissions to State Prison

V. THE IMPACT OF THE WAR ON DRUGS ON U.S. INCARCERATION
Drug Offenders Admitted to Prison
Rate of Admission of Drug Offenders
Drug Offending and Prison Admissions
Drugs Involved In Offense
Type of Drug Conduct
Low-level offenders

Figure 5:  Drug Offender Prison Admissions
Figure 6  Drug Offenders as Percentage of New Prison Admissions
Table 8:  State Prison Admisison Rates for Drug Offenders
Table 9:  Rates of Admission to State Prison: Persons Sentenced for Drug Offenses or Crimes of Violence
Table 10:  Percentage of Drug Using Population Aged 12 and Older in 1991-1993, and Rate of Drug Admissions to State Prison
Table 11:  Marijuana Offenders as Proportion of All Drug Admissions
Table 12:  Type of Drug Offense among Drug Offender Admissions to State Prison

VI. RACIALLY DISPROPORTIONATE INCARCERATION OF DRUG OFFENDERS
Racial Disparities in Drug Offender Admissions to Prison
Drug Offenders as a Proportion of Total Black Admissions

Figure7:  Percentage of Drug offenders Admitted to Prison by Race
Figure 8:  Rate of Male Drug Offender Admissions to Prison by Race
Table 13: Ranking of States by Percentage of Black Drug offenders Admitted to State Prison
Table 14: Rates of Admission for Black and White Male Drug Offenders
Table 15:  Drug Offenders as Percentage of Admissions by Race to State Prison
Table 16:  Drug, Violent and Nonviolent Offenders as Percentage of Admission by Race to State Prison

VII. RACIALLY DISPROPORTIONATE DRUG ARRESTS
Drug Arrests
Drug Law Violations by Blacks and Whites
Origins of Racially Disproportionate Arrests

Table 17:  Drug Use Population Estimates for 1998 (in Thousands)
Table 18:  Comparison of Drug use and Arrests by Race

VIII. WOMEN, RACE, DRUGS, AND IMPRISONMENT

Table 19  Percentage of Drug Offenders among Female Admissions to State Prison:
Figure 9:  Female Drug Offenders as Percentage of State Admissions

IX. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX: Methodology

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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