Locked Up for Non-Violent Drug Offenses: How Lobbyists Profit While Lives Are Ruined

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and a significant portion of the prison population is made up of individuals who have been convicted of non-violent drug offenses. In fact, according to the Sentencing Project, approximately 46% of the federal prison population is incarcerated for drug offenses, with similar numbers seen in state prisons as well.

The War on Drugs, a government-led initiative that began in the 1970s, has been largely responsible for the high number of individuals incarcerated for drug offenses. The initiative was intended to curb drug use and addiction, but has instead led to mass incarceration, particularly of low-income individuals and people of color.

One of the main issues with the War on Drugs is the harsh mandatory minimum sentences that are often imposed on individuals convicted of drug offenses. For example, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, meaning that judges are required to impose a certain minimum sentence regardless of the individual circumstances of the case. This has resulted in individuals being sentenced to decades or even life in prison for non-violent drug offenses.

Drug laws are often enforced disproportionately against communities of color. Despite similar rates of drug use across racial groups, Black Americans are nearly three times more likely to be arrested for drug offenses than white Americans. This racial bias in the criminal justice system has been widely documented and is a significant contributor to the high number of individuals incarcerated for drug offenses. And lobbyists go out of their way to make sure these statistics don’t change.

The high number of individuals incarcerated for drug offenses has also created a lucrative industry for private prisons and the companies that support them. Private prisons are for-profit institutions that are contracted by the government to house prisoners. The more prisoners they have, the more money they make. Therefore, private prison companies have a financial incentive to keep people incarcerated for as long as possible. And to go out of their way to make sure laws stay in place to keep money coming in. If you take away that 46% of individuals, where do the private prisons go? In theory they would be closed down. Alot of prisons would be if they would change the laws in place and get rid of for-profit institutions.

These companies also spend millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers to maintain harsh drug laws and mandatory minimum sentences. The lobbying efforts of these companies have contributed to the perpetuation of the War on Drugs and the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders.

Moreover, private prison companies have also been accused of using prisoners for cheap labor. Making them do certain jobs for little to no money at all. All this profit from not paying prisoners for their labor goes right back to the institution that’s housing them a lot of the times. This creates a system where private companies profit from the incarceration of individuals and the exploitation of their labor.

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to reform drug laws and reduce the number of individuals incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. Some states have already taken steps to legalize or decriminalize certain drugs, such as marijuana. There have also been efforts to reduce mandatory minimum sentences and provide alternatives to incarceration, such as drug treatment programs and community service. But we have a long way to go before we see a nationwide change. These changes would grossly affect the lobbyists who profit. And to think they would be willing to give up all of the money they make, is truly hard to see and imagine at this point in the criminal justice system. States are continuing to make their arguments heard to change these laws.

Everything considered, the high number of individuals incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses is a result of harsh drug laws and biased enforcement practices. Private prison companies have profited from this system, using their influence to maintain these laws and perpetuate mass incarceration. It is important to continue the fight for drug law reform and to address the root causes of addiction and drug use in a way that prioritizes the well-being and dignity of all individuals.