It costs approximately $30,000-140,000/year to incarcerate an American. We currently have 2 million Americans behind bars somewhere in this nation, yielding an incarceration rate greater than any other free and democratic society.

Treatment programs for individuals with substance abuse problems usually cost $1,000-20,000/year. In-patient/residential programs are at the higher end of that range. Virtually every government study has shown that sending individuals arrested on non-violent drug offenses to treatment instead of incarceration costs less and equals or beats the recidivism rates of prison.

In our rush to be tough on crime and hard on drugs we have created a system of mandatory minimums, backward incentives, profit-gauging, and limited judicial discretion that too often sends low-level, non-violent drug offenders to prison longer than those convicted of violent crimes. To see the American Bar Association's recommendations on reforming sentencing guidelines, click here.

Furthermore, the simple possession of small amounts of drugs (in some states, just one marijuana joint) is often classified as a felony, resulting in the loss of voting rights, college scholarships, job offers, public housing assistance, and many other basic services and rights guaranteed to murderers and rapists.