Prometheus 6

Many analysts point to crack cocaine in the 1980s as a catalyst for the subsequent boom in incarceration rates. Attracted by the drug's low price, dealers in impoverished urban neighborhoods began selling it in open-air markets, where they and their customers were targets for arrest. Thirst for the drug also fueled other crimes by addicts.

Why has Crystal Meth not had the same effect? I wonder... 

Influx of U.S. Inmates Slowing, Census Says
Number Incarcerated Still a Record High; Sentencing in '90s Cited as Factor
By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 27, 2007; A12

After two decades of massive growth, the U.S. prison population began to level off in the first six years of this century, according to 2006 census statistics released today.

At nearly 2.1 million, the number of adults in correctional institutions remains at an all-time high. Still, that figure represents a 4 percent rise since 2000 -- nowhere near the 77 percent spike in the prison population from 1990 to 2000.

The data, from the yearly American Community Survey, represent the Census Bureau's first in-depth look at people in prisons since the 1980 Census. Although the numbers vary, the census findings generally track with trends in twice-yearly statistics compiled by the Justice Department.

Many analysts point to crack cocaine in the 1980s as a catalyst for the subsequent boom in incarceration rates. Attracted by the drug's low price, dealers in impoverished urban neighborhoods began selling it in open-air markets, where they and their customers were targets for arrest. Thirst for the drug also fueled other crimes by addicts.

Perhaps the most significant factor, however, was the introduction of tough sentencing laws in the 1990s.

Congress dramatically increased prison time for offenses involving crack cocaine compared with those involving powdered cocaine. The federal government also introduced guidelines limiting judges' discretion at sentencing, as well as rules that drastically curtailed states' ability to parole offenders convicted of violent crimes. Many states also passed mandatory minimum-sentencing laws.

The result was an explosion in the prison population even as crime rates began to drop.