Someone in the U.S. is arrested every 25 seconds for drug possession, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union.
That pace is contributing to higher incarceration rates, and the report said about 137,000 people are behind bars for drug possession. More than 1.25 million people are arrested each year on drug charges, and the report said those arrested become locked out of jobs, housing, welfare and other benefits.
“Every 25 seconds someone is funneled into the criminal justice system, accused of nothing more than possessing drugs for personal use,” said Tess Borden, the Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU and the report’s author. “These wide-scale arrests have destroyed countless lives while doing nothing to help people who struggle with dependence.”
The report from the liberal groups found that people of color are disproportionately targeted for drug possession, even though their white counterparts are more likely to use illicit drugs in general.
In 2014, black adults accounted for 14 percent of all drug users nationwide, but were about one-third of those arrested for drug possession. Blacks were also nearly six times more likely than whites to be in prison for drug possession.
The 196-page report is based on hundreds of interviews with drug users, many incarcerated, in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and New York. Family members, judges, prosecutors, law enforcement and corrections officers were interviewed, as well as defense attorneys, service providers and local and national advocates.
Both Republicans and Democrats have supported some form of criminal justice reform, but legislation has not moved through Congress. The report’s authors said decriminalizing drug possession is a good first step.
