Reply #9: OK, some rough numbers--

[Jackpine Radical]

Approx 2/3 of people released from prison recidivate within 3 years. Approx 80% of inmates have been in prison before. (The difference between those 2 numbers is because subsequent sentences are generally longer than first sentences.) Federal prisons have a higher percentage of drug offenders than state prisons. IIRC Federal prisons are about 50% drug offenders. Many property offenders (burglars, armed robbers, etc.) committed their crimes to support their drug addictions. Thus, decriminalization of drugs & providing diagnosed addicts with their supplies so they wouldn't have to steal would cut out a lot of crime all by itself. Almost all prison inmates have histories of alcoholism and/or drug addiction. Most are victims of wildly dysfunctional early childhoods, with histories of physical, sexual & emotional abuse. I have good reason to believe that over half of young adult offenders are victims of childhood sexual abuse.