[danans]

I'm curious how the "drug" category breaks down in terms of dealing vs. possession/use. I support legalization, but I also think that if we nullify the black market for drugs, we'd better be ready with alternative non-criminal opportunities for those who currently are involved that trade.

[pdkl95]

We will never really know what the breakdown is, because definitions have been deliberately blurred. There are many ways possession can be turned into a charge for dealing (e.g. did they find two or more baggies? it's "packaged for sale") and plea bargains that reduce dealing back down to possession.

One of the well known problems with statistics for "dealing" is that a common plea bargain tactic is to reduce the charges in exchange for the defendant naming someone else as their "supplier". This works out well for actual dealers, as they often know people they can throw the charges at. Unfortunately, one of the common targets is the former (or current...) girlfriend that is only tangentially involved if they even knew about the dealing at all. They usually don't have a name to offer for a plea deal, so they end up serving time for the dealing charge.

So I don't believe it is actually possible to know what the breakdown really was. What we do know is that the sentencing doesn't really line up with the actions of the people involved; often the correlation is inverted from what it should be.

/* obviously, legalizing this entire mess so it can be regulated is the proper solution */

[Spooky23]

Unlikely. Street level drug trade is a minimum wage job. In general, we systemically don't give a hoot about people in that situation.

[frandroid]

Maybe drug tax income could be earmarked for educational funding in underfunded districts... Create a school to employment pipeline.