Major Disparity Found In Number Of Blacks And Whites Imprisoned For Drugs: Study

Jet, June 26, 2000

The war on drugs in the United States has been waged disproportionately against Blacks, with about twice as many Blacks in prison on drug-related charges than Whites, according to a new study.

Nationwide, Blacks make up about 62 percent of prisoners incarcerated on drug charges, compared with 36 percent of Whites, according to research. Blacks make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population and Whites--including White Hispanics--about 82 percent.

In Illinois, the report found the worst rate of racial disparity among drug offender admissions in the country: Black men are sent to prison on drug charges at 57 times the rate of White men. And Blacks comprise 90 percent of all prison admissions in that state for drug charges--the highest percentage in the country.

"We as a nation can't afford to have such an astonishing percentage of our population in prison, especially when so much of it has to do with drugs," said Jamie Fellner, Human Rights Watch associate counsel and author of the report.

Fellner said the solution to the inequity is "not to incarcerate more Whites, but to reduce the use of prison for low-level drug offenders and to increase the availability of substance abuse treatment."

Black men nationally are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate about 13 times that of White men, the study said. On average, 482 of every 100,000 Black men sentenced to prison are sent there on drug charges, compared with just 36 of every 100,000 White men.

The Human Rights Watch group said the numbers are especially striking because of federal studies that show White drug users outnumber Black drug users 5-to-1.

"These racial disparities are a national scandal," said Ken Roth, executive director of the New York-based human rights group.

The study was based on 1996 figures provided by 37 states to the Justice Department. The study doesn't include data for states that did not report statistics that year.

The study did not differentiate between individuals imprisoned for drug dealing as opposed to drug use.