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That most prisoners are serving for merely drug offenses is a myth. A huge percent have drugs on the list of crimes they were convicted for, but almost all of them have a violent crime on there as well. Mass incarceration is due to high rates of violent crime and strong punishments for them, not drug enforcement.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/30/15591700/m...

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I made no mention of drug offences.

The US incarcerates more people than any other country, and yet it still has much higher rates of crime, including violent crime, than Europe.

If imprisonment worked to reduce violent crime we'd expect Europe to have higher rates of violent crime than the US.

But perhaps it's all related. Violent crime occurs because it's fueled by an illegal cash cow in the form of drugs. People don't just murder or assault people without being driven to do so. They have an economic incentive.

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