Drug War Statistics
Did you know....
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: $47+ billion
Number of arrests in 2018 in the U.S. for drug law violations: 1,654,282
Number of drug arrests that were for possession only: 1,429,299
Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2018: 663,367
Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for possession only: 608,775
Percentage of people arrested in 2017 for drug law violations who are Black: 27% (despite making up just 13.4% of the U.S. population)
Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated in 2016: 2.3 million – the highest incarceration rate in the world
Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated for a drug law violation in 2016: 450,000
Number of people in the U.S. who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2018: almost 68,000
Number of states that allow the medical use of marijuana: 35+ District of Columbia
Number of states that have legalized marijuana: 15+ District of Columbia (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington State)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for possession of all drugs for personal use: 1 (Oregon)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana: 26+ District of Columbia
Number of people killed in Mexico's drug war since 2006: 150,000
Number of people killed in the Philippines drug war since 2016: up to 20,000
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access programs lower HIV incidence among people who inject drugs by: 50%
Annual budgetary gains that could be generated by legalization of all drugs: $106.7 billion ($19 billion in state and local tax revenue; $39 billion in federal tax revenue; plus saving $47 billion on prohibition enforcement)
Did you know....
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: $47+ billion
Number of arrests in 2018 in the U.S. for drug law violations: 1,654,282
Number of drug arrests that were for possession only: 1,429,299
Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2018: 663,367
Number of those charged with marijuana law violations who were arrested for possession only: 608,775
Percentage of people arrested in 2017 for drug law violations who are Black: 27% (despite making up just 13.4% of the U.S. population)
Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated in 2016: 2.3 million – the highest incarceration rate in the world
Number of people in the U.S. incarcerated for a drug law violation in 2016: 450,000
Number of people in the U.S. who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2018: almost 68,000
Number of states that allow the medical use of marijuana: 35+ District of Columbia
Number of states that have legalized marijuana: 15+ District of Columbia (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington State)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for possession of all drugs for personal use: 1 (Oregon)
Number of states that have decriminalized or removed the threat of jail time for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana: 26+ District of Columbia
Number of people killed in Mexico's drug war since 2006: 150,000
Number of people killed in the Philippines drug war since 2016: up to 20,000
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that syringe access programs lower HIV incidence among people who inject drugs by: 50%
Annual budgetary gains that could be generated by legalization of all drugs: $106.7 billion ($19 billion in state and local tax revenue; $39 billion in federal tax revenue; plus saving $47 billion on prohibition enforcement)