‘The War On Drugs: The Prison Industrial Complex’ reveals a surprising number of figures of drug offenders in The United States.
It shows how the number of Americans imprisoned on drug charges have grown in leaps and bounds from just 50,000 in 1980 to nearly 500,00 within three decades, making the United States operate the largest prison system on the planet.
According to the U.S. Dept of Justice, the number of offenders under age 18, mostly African-Americans, imprisoned for drug offenses increased twelvefold from 1985 to 1997 and the number put in prison increased from 53 to 62 percent.
Today, 89 percent of police departments have paramilitary units, and 46 percent have been trained by active duty armed forces. The most common use of paramilitary units is serving drug-related search warrants, which usually involve no-knock entries into private homes.
