WOMEN IMPRISONED FOR NARCOTICS ON RISE

Women are going to prison for drug crimes at a rate that far outpaces
men. The number of women imprisoned for narcotics convictions
increased nearly tenfold, from 2,400 in 1986 to 23,700 in 1996,
according to a study released Wednesday by the Sentencing Project, a
Washington D.C.-based research and advocacy group that promotes
alternatives to incarceration.

During the same time, the number of men in prison for drug convictions
showed a six-fold increase, from 34,400 to 213,900. Of the 46,000
inmates in Michigan prisons for a variety of crimes, 1,880 are women.

"Ironically, this comes at a time when crime rates are coming down,"
said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the project.

Drug use by women during that period also declined, with 9.5 percent
of women reporting using an illicit drug during a given month,
compared with 4.2 percent 10 years later, the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Administration reported.

Mauer said one reason for the steep increase in women serving time for
drug crimes may be the nature of the trade.

"We have a lot of anecdotal evidence that the women are not the
primary players. There is often a boyfriend or a pimp in charge,"
Mauer said. "These boyfriends can often cut themselves a better deal
(with prosecutors) because they are better connected and can name
names. The women often can't, so are subject to mandatory
sentencing."

Mauer's organization advocates eliminating mandatory sentencing,
ending the federal ban on welfare benefits for persons convicted of
drug crimes, and enhancing drug treatment programs in and out of prison.

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons, said the federal
system already has a 500-hour drug treatment program. Though women
only account for 7 percent of the federal inmate population
nationwide, they account for 13 percent of inmates in the drug
program. Inmates can knock a year off their sentences with good
behavior and successful completion of the program.

"It's an excellent program -- not only because it can improve an
inmate's chances of not committing further crimes, but because it
gives them a whole change in attitude, in lifestyle," Wolfson said.

The study looked more in-depth at prisons in New York, California and
Minnesota. Among its findings:

* Drug offenses accounted for 91 percent of the increase in female
inmates in New York.

* African-American and Hispanic women represent a disproportionate
share of drug convicts. For instance, in Minnesota, minorities make up
27 percent of women serving time for narcotics, but 5 percent of the
state's population.

Female inmates, nearly three-quarters of whom nationwide reported
using drugs regularly, pose some unique problems to the prison system.

The Sentencing Project study found that two-thirds of female inmates
have minor children. And while male inmates often abandon their
children or leave them with relatives, female inmates often lose their
children to the state.