Most Federal Inmates Have Used Drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seven of every 10 federal prisoners had used drugs
prior to their arrests, and one-fifth were on drugs at the time they
committed the crime that sent them to prison, the Justice Department
reported today.

In conjunction with the release of the department's Bureau of Justice
Statistics figures, which are up from 1991 levels, President Clinton
announced at the White House that his fiscal 2000 budget would include
$215 million to test and treat prisoners for drug use.

If approved by Congress, the money would represent an increase of
about $100 million over funds currently available to enforce ``zero
tolerance'' for drug use by prisoners parolees and
probationers.

The Justice report found that 70 percent of federal prisoners had used
drugs, and 22 percent used them at the time of the offense. In 1991,
60 percent of federal prisoners said they had used drugs, and 17
percent used them at the time of the crime.

Percentages of state prisoners using drugs were higher. In 1997, 83
percent said they had used drugs, up from 79 percent in 1991. And 33
percent used them at the time of the crime, up from 31 percent in 1991.