HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 22 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

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chart showing that people in state prisons report much higher rates of drug use before their arrest - including 39% who used drugs during the offense itself

Data Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics' Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 data analyzed by the Prison Policy Initiative, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2016-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Model-Based Prevalence Estimates (50 States and the District of Columbia) Tables 1 and 23. (Graph: Wendy Sawyer, 2022)

This graph originally appeared in Beyond the count: A deep dive into the state prison populations.

The underlying data for this graphic can be found in the report’s appendix tables.

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