Kuziemko, Ilyana; Levitt, Steven D. - 2021
The number of prisoners incarcerated on drug-related offenses rose fifteen-fold between 1980 and 2000. This paper … increase in drug prisoners led to reductions in expected time served for other crimes, especially for less serious offenses …. Reductions in time served, however, increased other crimes by no more than a few percent. Moreover, incarcerating drug offenders …