Drug War Statistics
Did you know....
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51,000,000,000
Number of arrests in 2015 in the U.S. for drug law violations: 1,488,707
- Number of these arrests that were for possession only: 1,249,025 (84 percent)
Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2015: 643,121
- Number of those charged with marijuna law violations who were arrested for possession only: 574,641 (89 percent)
Number of Americans incarcerated in 2014 in federal, state and local prisons and jails: 2,224,400 or 1 in every 111 adults, the highest incarceration rate in the world
Proportion of people incarcerated for a drug offense in state prison who are black or Latino, although these groups use and sell drugs at similar rates as whites: 57 percent
Number of states that allow the medical use of marijuana: 29 + District of Columbia
Number of states that have approved legally taxing and regulating marijuana: 8 (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana: 22
Number of people killed in Mexico's drug war since 2006: 100,000+
Number of students who have lost federal financial aid eligibility because of a drug conviction: 200,000+
Number of people in the U.S. who died from a drug overdose in 2015: 52,404
Tax revenue that drug legalization would yield annually, if currently-illegal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco: $46.7 billion
Number of people in the U.S. who have acquired AIDS directly or indirectly from syringe sharing: 360,836 people, or 30 percent of all people diagnosed w/AIDS in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access programs lower HIV incidence among people who inject drugs by: 80 percent
More Resources
Drug War Statistics
Did you know....
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51,000,000,000
Number of arrests in 2015 in the U.S. for drug law violations: 1,488,707
- Number of these arrests that were for possession only: 1,249,025 (84 percent)
Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2015: 643,121
- Number of those charged with marijuna law violations who were arrested for possession only: 574,641 (89 percent)
Number of Americans incarcerated in 2014 in federal, state and local prisons and jails: 2,224,400 or 1 in every 111 adults, the highest incarceration rate in the world
Proportion of people incarcerated for a drug offense in state prison who are black or Latino, although these groups use and sell drugs at similar rates as whites: 57 percent
Number of states that allow the medical use of marijuana: 29 + District of Columbia
Number of states that have approved legally taxing and regulating marijuana: 8 (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana: 22
Number of people killed in Mexico's drug war since 2006: 100,000+
Number of students who have lost federal financial aid eligibility because of a drug conviction: 200,000+
Number of people in the U.S. who died from a drug overdose in 2015: 52,404
Tax revenue that drug legalization would yield annually, if currently-illegal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco: $46.7 billion
Number of people in the U.S. who have acquired AIDS directly or indirectly from syringe sharing: 360,836 people, or 30 percent of all people diagnosed w/AIDS in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access programs lower HIV incidence among people who inject drugs by: 80 percent
More Resources
Drug War Statistics