Research Bulletin
This report, Disproportionate incarceration of African Americans for Drug offenses in the U.S., which is the first in a series, discusses national trends in arrests and incarcerations for drug offenses and describes the growth in the countrys prison population attributable mainly to increases in the number of persons sentenced to prison for drug offenses. It also demonstrates that African Americans are many more times likely than non-African Americans to be sentenced to prison for such crimes. Finally, the report discusses how racial disproportionality in drug law enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing practices has adversely affected the African American community.