According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the last few years, prisoners serving time for drug related chargers made up almost 50% of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction. With the highest amount of drug related incarnations, The United States has a staggering 6.8 million Americans struggling with drug abuse. It is without doubt that the prison population is driven largely by incarceration for drug offenses. It is often argued whether the punishment fits the crime, and often questioned if the government is wasting money on prisoners incarcerated for drug related offenses. With this in mind, I believe the punishments for drug related offenses are not harsh, and in fact with the increasing amount of drug users and drug …show more content…

We want him to be a good citizen. We want him to have absolute faith that he lives in a fair country, a country that watches over and protects its most vulnerable citizens; its women and children (Coyne 61).” Coyne herself says drug dealing is a crime, but the punishment itself is blown out of proportion. Her blaming this on “political mood swings”, “public hysteria”, and “war on drugs” are excuses in my opinion. According to the According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics “The evidence indicates that drug users are more likely than nonusers to commit crimes, that arrestees and inmates were often under the influence of a drug at the time they committed their offense, and that drug trafficking generates violence.” With this being said, drugs play a powerful part in the incarceration of prisoners. Coyne characterizes drug dealing as a “small scale” crime, but according to Boufis, inmates themselves admitted they blamed their hopelessness on drugs, even if it was “small scale”. “I would even try to sell drugs on a very small scale. I felt my life was becoming meaningless… I now have a chance to regain my life by being here (Boufis 72). Boufis explains that her students’ are “most likely in jail on drug related chargers, primarily for possessing minor amounts of crack cocaine (70).” She goes on by saying “I have seen hundreds of women get released from jail and come back again – often the same ones,