The Cost Of Reagan's War
February, 1988
When President Reagan launched his aggressive "war on drugs," he neglected to plan for one little detail: After nabbing the offenders, where do we put them?In 1980, convicted drug users accounted for 25 percent of Federal prison inmates. A hard-line antidrug bill, passed in 1986, increased penalties for drug violators and increased the number of law-enforcement agents. As a result, drug convictions rose to 37 percent. The result: A system designed to hold 28,000 prisoners now holds 44,...
