Alcohol and illicit drugs are closely linked to crime. Two-thirds of adult arrestees in major U.S. metropolitan areas consistently test positive for at least one illicit drug,^[86] and more than one-third say they are heavy drinkers.^[87] Alcohol, drugs and crime are linked in at least three ways:

· Crimes are often committed by people under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Nationwide, more than half of state prison inmates report having committed their offense under the influence of alcohol or drugs.^[88] Alcohol intoxication, in particular, reduces inhibitions against reckless and violent behavior.^[89] Neighborhoods with a high density of liquor stores suffer increased health and social problems, including violent crime.^[90]

· Drug users frequently commit crimes to get money to buy drugs. Nationwide, almost one in three state prisoners convicted of robbery, burglary or theft say they did so for drug money.^[91]

· Illicit drug markets are often violent. Drug dealers use force to defend territory, discipline employees and settle disagreements with buyers. According to the National Institute of Justice, crack cocaine markets in particular generate high rates of community violence.^[92]

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have jointly developed estimates of the extent to which alcohol and drug use are factors in violent and property crimes nationwide.^[93] Overall, according to NIAAA and NIDA, alcohol is involved in about 20 percent of FBI “index crime” violent offenses (murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery), while illicit drugs are a factor in about 12 percent of violent crimes. With respect to FBI index crime property offenses (burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft), alcohol is involved in about 3 percent of offenses, and illicit drugs in about 25 percent. Based on these estimates, about 1,000 violent crimes (nearly three per day) and 7,200 property crimes (nearly 20 per day) linked to alcohol or drugs were committed in Denver each year from 1996-2000.1/^[94]

Alcohol, Drugs and Crime in Denver
The data available for Denver indicate that alcohol and drugs play as important a role in crime locally as they do nationwide.

· Drinking and drug use is high in Denver compared to the rest of the country.^[95]

· Two-thirds of those arrested in Denver test positive for illicit drugs, regardless of the offense,^[96] and half of Denver arrestees are addicted to alcohol, other drugs or both.^[97]

· Nearly half of felony offenders on probation in Denver^[98] and about 80 percent of prisoners and parolees statewide^[99] need treatment for substance abuse.

Denver’s high rates of binge and chronic drinking are reflected in alcohol-related illness and death rates in the city.^[100] Alcohol is readily available and inexpensive. The city’s 1,259 licensed retail alcohol outlets amount to one outlet for every 440 Denver residents,^[101] a 58 percent higher concentration than in Denver’s surrounding counties, where there is one outlet for every 696 residents.^[102] Bars and liquor stores are concentrated in Denver’s poorer areas. For example, 25 percent of all the bars and liquor stores in the city are located within five neighborhoods (Auraria-Lincoln Park, Baker, Five Points, Highland and West Colfax)^[103] which are home to only 8 percent of Denver residents.^[104] Average household income in these five neighborhoods is 42 percent lower than the citywide figure, while the crime rate is double the city average.^[105]

Colorado’s alcohol excise tax rates are among the lowest in the country, making beer, wine and liquor cheaper than in most other states.2 On a per-drink basis, Colorado’s beer, wine and liquor excise tax rates are less than one-third, less than one-half and less than two-thirds the national averages, respectively.^[106] Because Colorado’s alcohol excise taxes are not indexed for inflation, their value erodes over time. Colorado’s current excise tax on beer (8¢ per gallon) is worth only 30 percent of its value in 1976, when the tax was last raised.^[107] The current excise taxes on wine (7.33¢ per liter) and liquor (60.26¢ per liter) are worth only half their value in 1981, when they were last raised.^[108]

Although general population survey data on illicit drug use in Denver are lacking, rising rates of hospital emergencies due to cocaine and heroin abuse, as well as continuing diagnoses of drug-related AIDS cases, indicate a substantial demand for drugs. The Denver Police Department considers heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana all to be widely available in the city.^[109] Law enforcement officials point to several factors that make Denver both a prime destination and a convenient transshipment site for traffickers, particularly from Mexico.^[110] Denver is only 550 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, with easy access north on Interstate Highway 25 (I-25). Tighter border controls have prompted traffickers to move their inventories directly to interior U.S. cities, including Denver.^[111] A major east-west highway, I-70, also runs through Denver, making it a distribution hub for drugs to other cities in the Mountain West and the Midwest.

The Denver Police Department estimates that roughly half of its $108 million operations budget for FY2001 was devoted to enforcement related to alcohol and illicit drugs.^[112] Denver’s City Attorney, District Attorney and County Court spent another $6.7 million on legal matters involving alcohol and drug abuse.^[113]

Substance Abuse Widespread Among Denver Arrestees
The National Institute of Justice’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program measures illicit drug use among booked arrestees, including Denver adult arrestees (since 1990) and juvenile arrestees (since 1994).3 Denver arrestees test positive for drug use at higher rates than do arrestees in more than a dozen other cities of similar size.^[114] More than 68 percent of arrestees in Denver from 1995-1999 tested positive for at least one illicit drug. For males, only Atlanta among similar-sized ADAM cities had a higher drug-positive rate over this period.^[115] For females, only Portland recorded a higher rate than Denver.^[116]

Cocaine and marijuana are by far the most commonly-used illicit drugs among male and female arrestees in Denver.^[117] Since 1995, rates of cocaine use among adult male and female Denver arrestees have been consistently higher than the average rates in cities of similar size.^[118] However, heroin and methamphetamine use rates are considerably lower among Denver arrestees, falling well below the average drug-positive rates in other cities.^[119]

Drug use is widespread among Denver arrestees across all types of offenses, not only those arrested on drug charges. From 1995 through 1999, 86 percent of adult drug offense arrestees tested positive for drugs (including 61 percent who tested positive for cocaine). At the same time, three out of four adults arrested for robbery tested positive, as did two-thirds of all theft arrestees.

Most male juveniles arrested in Denver also test positive for illicit drugs. As with adults, rates of drug use among juvenile arrestees are consistently higher than in comparably-sized cities. From 1995-1999, 60 percent of Denver juvenile male arrestees tested positive for at least one illicit drug, compared to 52 percent in five similar-sized cities over the same period.^[120] For juveniles in Denver and elsewhere, marijuana has been by far the leading drug. From 1995-1999, 58 percent of Denver juvenile male arrestees tested positive for marijuana, well above the positive rates for cocaine (9.3 percent), methamphetamine (0.7 percent) and opiates (0.1 percent).

Rates of Addiction High Among Denver Arrestees
In 1995 and 1996, Colorado’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) measured the extent of addiction among arrestees statewide.^[121] ADAD found that slightly more than half of Denver arrestees (50.5 percent) were dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs, compared to about a third of arrestees in the rest of the state (34.5 percent). The difference in addiction rates between arrestees in Denver and elsewhere in the state was even more pronounced with respect to cocaine and heroin. Nearly one in five Denver arrestees (18.3 percent) was considered cocaine dependent, more than double the rate among arrestees elsewhere in Colorado (8.7 percent). One in 20 Denver arrestees (5.6 percent) was considered heroin dependent, eight times higher than the rate of heroin dependence among arrestees in the rest of Colorado (0.7 percent).

Nearly half of all felony offenders on probation in Denver are also considered in need of substance abuse treatment, regardless of the type of offense that led to their sentence. In FY2001, 47 percent of the 4,500 probationers under the supervision of the Denver district court were assessed as needing treatment, according to the Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator.^[122]

The Emphasis—and Burden—on Enforcement
Alcohol and drug-related crimes place a heavy burden on law enforcement and criminal justice resources. Police are continually responding to crimes in which the offender is involved in alcohol, illicit drugs, or both. Based on the NIAAA-NIDA estimates of the role played by alcohol and drugs in crime, Denver police made nearly 2,500 arrests for FBI “index” violent and property crimes related to alcohol and drugs each year from 1997-2001.^[123] Over the same period, Denver police made an even greater number of arrests for driving under the influence (DUI), averaging more than 4,000 DUI arrests per year.^[124] Moreover, Denver police make arrests for drug sales and possession offenses in still greater numbers, averaging 6,400 such arrests annually from 1997-2001.^[125]

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the arrest and criminal justice processing of drug law offenders has come to command a substantial share of enforcement efforts and budgets nationwide. Increasing numbers of arrests, aggressive prosecution and tough sentencing have caused a dramatic rise in the number of drug offenders behind bars in state prisons across the country. This surge in the incarceration of drug offenders has been a major factor in the explosive growth in the overall U.S. incarceration rate.^[126] The trends toward intensified drug law enforcement evident nationwide over the past 15 years have been even more pronounced in Denver.

Drug Offense Arrests and Drug Felony Cases in Denver
Between 1991 and 1995, Denver arrests for drug possession and sales offenses more than doubled. Drug arrests peaked in 1998 and have declined since. However, the number of drug arrests in 2001 was still double the number made 10 years earlier.^[127] From 1996 through 2000, Denver police made drug arrests at an average rate of 1,234 per 100,000 city residents, more than twice the average nationwide and in the rest of Colorado.^[128] The vast majority of Denver’s drug arrests (93 percent) are for possession offenses.^[129]

Denver’s increase in drug arrests has been surpassed by an even sharper increase in the rate at which felony drug cases are brought to state district court in Denver. When drug charges are considered a defendant’s most serious offense, the case is recorded by the court as a drug offense. The number of drug felony cases filed in Denver rose more than seven-fold between 1986 (398 cases) and 1996 (3,107 cases), before declining steadily to 2,265 in 2001.^[130] In 1986, drug cases represented only 14 percent of all felony cases filed in Denver district court. By 1990, they comprised one-quarter of all felony filings, and since 1995, one-half.^[131]

The surge in drug felony filings in Denver in recent years has been matched by rising numbers of convictions. From 1994 through 1998 (the most recent five-year period for which data are available), the number of drug felony convictions in Denver doubled, climbing from 1,109 to 2,240.^[132] Half of all drug convictions during this period were for possession.^[133]

State court conviction and sentencing data for the nation as a whole are available for 1994, 1996 and 1998, allowing for comparisons between Denver and U.S. rates. In 1994, Denver’s drug conviction rate was nearly double the national average; by 1998, it was more than triple the national rate.^[134]

One explanation for the increase in drug arrests and convictions is the creation in 1994 of one of the nation’s most comprehensive treatment drug courts. Since 1994, the Denver Drug Court has provided a treatment option to a majority of persons convicted in Denver on drug charges. Offenders who plead guilty or are found guilty of a felony drug charge are placed under strict supervision for treatment participation and tested frequently for drug use to monitor their compliance.

Denver’s Drug Imprisonment Boom
The number of drug offenders from Denver sentenced to prison climbed rapidly during the 1990s. By 1996, Denver was sentencing more drug offenders to prison than the total number of drug felony cases filed only a decade earlier.^[135] The number of Denver drug offenders sentenced to prison continued to rise steeply; by 1998, Denver was imprisoning drug offenders at more than twice the national rate.^[136]

State prison populations nationwide have ballooned over the last two decades,^[137] led by explosive growth in the number of drug offenders put behind bars.^[138] Colorado’s prison expansion has been exceptionally rapid. During the 1990s, only six states recorded faster prison population growth rates.^[139] The number of inmates in Colorado during this period rose by 119 percent, well above the national average growth rate of 72 percent.^[140] Moreover, the state’s prison population is still growing. The number of inmates is projected to rise from 17,150 at the end of 2001 to 24,500 by the end of 2006, a rate of increase on par with that of the 1990s.^[141] Nearly one in every three Colorado prison inmates is from Denver.^[142]

Colorado’s unprecedented prison growth has been fueled in large part by rising numbers of incarcerated drug offenders. Drug offenders comprise a significant fraction of all new court commitments to prison in Colorado. From 1997 through 2000, 24 percent of all new prisoners were drug offenders, more than the total sentenced to prison for robbery, assault, theft, burglary and motor vehicle theft combined (23 percent).^[143] By June 2001, one in every five Colorado prison inmates was a drug offender.^[144]

Denver has consistently accounted for a disproportionately high share of drug offenders sentenced to prison. Thirty-seven percent of drug offenders sent to prison statewide from 1994-1998 were sentenced in Denver,^[145] even though the city comprised only 13 percent of Colorado’s population. As of June 2001, Denver residents accounted for 42 percent of the nearly 3,200 drug offenders behind bars in Colorado prisons.^[146] The drug offense incarceration rate among Denver residents (308 state drug prisoners per 100,000 residents 18 and older) is nearly 2½ times the national rate (125 per 100,000).^[147]

1 Denver’s crime rate has declined steadily since the early 1990s. By 2000, Denver’s crime rate was well below the average among 32 other comparably-sized U.S. cities. However, despite the steady drops in recent years, Denver’s year 2000 crime rate—4,742 crimes per 100,000 residents—remained 15 percent higher than the national average and 23 percent higher than in the rest of Colorado.

2 Beer accounts for the vast majority (85 percent) of alcohol sold in Colorado, and is lightly taxed even by comparison with Colorado’s seven neighboring states. For example, the combined state tax (excise and sales) on a $6 six-pack of beer sold in Colorado amounts to 22¢, less than half the average combined state tax on the same product in neighboring Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

3 Denver is one of 38 ADAM sites nationwide, most of which are located in large urban areas. Arrestees are interviewed for information about their alcohol and other drug use patterns, and urinalysis is used to detect recent illicit drug use. Beginning with the year 2000, program sampling methods have been improved so that the findings can be generalized to all arrestees in each participating site. For Denver, preliminary results for the year 2000 appear to validate the data for prior years.

[89]. G. M. McClelland & L. A. Teplin. “Alcohol intoxication and violent crime: Implications for public health policy.” The American Journal on Addictions, 10(Suppl.):70-85, 2001.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Research Monograph 24—Alcohol and Interpersonal Violence: Fostering Multidisciplinary Perspectives. 1993.

J. Roth. Psychoactive Substances and Violence. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 1994.

[90]. P. W. Speer et al. “Violent crime and alcohol availability: Relationships in an urban community.” Journal of Public Health Policy, 19(3):303-318, 1998.

[93]. National Institute on Drug Abuse & National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the United States, 1992. September 1998.

[94]. National Institute on Drug Abuse & National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the United States, 1992. September 1998.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 2000. October 2001.

[96]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. According to NIJ’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, 68.7 percent of male arrestees and 68.4 percent of females arrestees in Denver tested positive for at least one illicit drug from 1995-1999.

[99]. Department of Corrections. Overview of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, Fiscal Year 2000. October 2001. As of June 2000, 77 percent of Colorado prisoners—nearly 11,000 inmates—were identified at intake as needing treatment for substance abuse. More than 80 percent of all state prisoners released during the year 2000 were in need of treatment.

[100]. On alcohol-related illnesses and deaths in Denver, please refer to the section entitled “Alcohol-Related Hospitalizations and Deaths” in Chapter II, with corresponding endnotes 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62.

[103]. Denver Liquor Licensing Division and the Piton Foundation. The Piton Foundation has geocoded all 1,259 existing alcohol outlet licenses in Denver, allowing for analysis of concentrations of outlets by neighborhood and by license type.

[104]. The Piton Foundation. The Piton Foundation’s website (www.piton.org) includes a “Neighborhood Facts” section with neighborhood-by-neighborhood data on demographics, housing, economics, education, health and crime. The combined population of the Auraria-Lincoln Park, Baker, Five Points, Highland and West Colfax neighborhoods in April 2000 was 42,317, accounting for 7.6 percent of Denver’s total population.

[106]. Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 12, Article 47.

Alcohol Epidemiology Program. Alcohol Policies in the United States: Highlights from the 50 States. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 2000. On a per-drink basis, Colorado’s alcohol excise tax rates are all lower than the national averages. Colorado’s excise tax on a 12-ounce beer is 0.75¢, compared to the national average of 2.40¢. For a 5-ounce drink of wine, Colorado’s excise tax is 1.38¢, compared to a national average of 2.86¢. For a 1.5-ounce drink of liquor, Colorado’s excise tax is 2.68¢, compared to a national average of 4.13¢.

[107]. Colorado General Assembly. Laws Passed at the 2^nd Regular Session of the 50^th General Assembly of the State of Colorado. Denver, CO: Bradford Printing Co., 1976. Between 1976 (when Colorado’s beer excise tax rate was last raised) and 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the urban West rose from 55.8 points to 181.2 points, a 225 percent increase. Had Colorado’s beer excise tax rate risen with inflation, it would now be 26¢ per gallon, or 2.44¢ per 12-ounce drink. The current tax rate (8¢ per gallon, or 0.75¢ per drink) retains only 30.8 percent of the value it had when originally enacted in 1976.

[108]. Colorado General Assembly. Laws Passed at the 1^st Regular Session of the 53^rd General Assembly of the State of Colorado. Denver, CO: Bradford Printing Co., 1981. Between 1981 (when Colorado’s wine excise tax rate was last raised) and 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the urban West rose from 91.9 points to 181.2 points, a 97.2 percent increase. Had Colorado’s wine excise tax rate risen with inflation, it would now be 14.45¢ per liter, or 2.72¢ per 5-ounce drink. The current tax rate (7.33¢ per liter, or 1.38¢ per drink) retains only 50.7 percent of the value it had when originally enacted in 1981. Colorado’s liquor excise tax rate was also last raised in 1981. Had the liquor excise tax rate risen with inflation, it would now be 118.82¢ per liter, or 5.28¢ per 1.5-ounce drink. The current tax rate (60.26¢ per liter, or 2.68¢ per drink) retains only 50.7 percent of the value it had when originally enacted in 1981.

[113]. Denver Budget and Management Office; Denver City Attorney’s Office; and Denver Department of Safety. In FY2001, the Denver City Attorney spent an estimated $1.4 million on legal matters involving alcohol and other drug abuse. The same year, the Denver District Attorney spent an estimated $1.6 million and the Denver County Court an estimated $3.7 million on legal matters involving alcohol and other drug abuse.

[114]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. Since 1990, 16 cities comparable in size to Denver have tested adult male arrestees as part of the ADAM program, and 14 comparably-sized cities have tested adult female arrestees. The cities range in size from St. Louis (Census 2000 population of 348,189) to Washington, D.C. (572,059). In the 16 comparably-sized ADAM cities, an annual average of 65.8 percent of male arrestees tested positive for at least one illicit drug from 1995-1999, compared to 68.7 percent in Denver. In the 14 comparably-sized ADAM cities, an annual average of 63.9 percent of female arrestees tested positive for at least one illicit drug from 1995-1999, compared to 68.4 percent in Denver.

[115]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. For males arrestees, only Atlanta among similar sized ADAM cities had a higher drug-positive rate from 1995-1999 (73.6 percent) than Denver (68.7 percent).

[116]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. For female arrestees, only Portland among similar sized ADAM cities had a higher drug-positive rate from 1995-1999 (72.4 percent) than Denver (68.4 percent).

[117]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. At two to three days, the window to detect cocaine use through urinalysis is relatively brief, meaning that most of those who test positive for cocaine are likely to be frequent, heavy users. By comparison, marijuana remains in the body as long as 30 days after use, so a positive urinalysis test for marijuana does not necessarily equate with recent or regular use.

[118]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. From 1995-1999, an annual average of 41.7 percent of adult male arrestees in Denver tested positive for cocaine, compared to 37.7 percent of male arrestees in 16 comparably-sized ADAM cities. From 1995-1999, an annual average of 51.0 percent of adult female arrestees in Denver tested positive for cocaine, compared to 43.7 percent of female arrestees in 14 comparably-sized ADAM cities.

[119]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. From 1995-1999, an annual average of 4.2 percent of adult male arrestees in Denver tested positive for opiates, compared to 6.7 percent of male arrestees in 16 comparably-sized ADAM cities. From 1995-1999, an annual average of 4.6 percent of adult female arrestees in Denver tested positive for opiates, compared to 9.1 percent of female arrestees in 14 comparably-sized ADAM cities. From 1997-1999, an annual average of 4.4 percent of adult male arrestees in Denver tested positive for methamphetamine, compared to 5.4 percent of male arrestees in 16 comparably-sized ADAM cities. From 1997-1999, an annual average of 3.9 percent of adult female arrestees in Denver tested positive for methamphetamine, compared to 8.2 percent of female arrestees in 14 comparably-sized ADAM cities.

[120]. National Institute of Justice. 1999 Annual Report on Drug Use Among Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. June 2000. Since 1994, five cities comparable in size to Denver have tested juvenile male arrestees as part of the ADAM program. The cities range in size from St. Louis (Census 2000 population of 348,189) to Washington, D.C. (572,059). In the five comparably-sized ADAM cities, an annual average of 52.5 percent of juvenile male arrestees tested positive for at least one illicit drug from 1995-1999, compared to 60.2 percent in Denver.

[121]. Colorado Department of Human Services & Colorado Department of Public Safety. Substance Abuse and Need for Treatment Among Adult Arrestees in Colorado. June 1998. Denver arrestees have continued to test positive for illicit drugs at a high rate since the 1995-1996 SANTA study, so the findings can still be considered to hold true. For example, in 1999 (the most recent year for which comprehensive ADAM data are available), 67.5 percent of Denver adults arrestees tested positive, slightly higher than the 1995 rate (66 percent).

[123]. Denver Department of Safety and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

National Institute on Drug Abuse & National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the United States, 1992. September 1998.

[126]. A. Blumstein & A. J. Beck. “Population Growth in U.S. Prisons, 1980-1996,” in M. Tonry & J. Petersilia (eds), Crime and Justice, A Review of Research, Volume 26: Prisons. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

[127]. Denver Department of Safety. Denver police made 5,957 arrests for drug possession and sales offenses in 1995, double the number of such arrests made in 1991 (2,932). The number of drug arrests peaked at 6,884 in 1998, and declined to 5,874 by 2001 (which as still double the number of drug arrests made in 1991).

[128]. Denver Department of Safety and Federal Bureau of Investigation. From 1996-2000, Denver made an annual average of 1,233.2 drug arrests per 100,000 population, 2.15 times higher than the U.S. rate of 574.1 per 100,000 over the same period.

[129]. Denver Department of Safety. From 1997-2001, 93.4 percent of Denver’s drug arrests were for possession offenses (an average of 5,992 drug possession arrests per year).

[133]. Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator and Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. Of the 8,933 drug felony convictions in Denver from 1994-1998, 4,506 (50.4 percent) were for possession offenses.

[134]. Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator; Colorado Division of Criminal Justice; and Bureau Justice Statistics. In 1994, Denver’s rate of convicting drug offenders was nearly double the national rate (273.2 versus 142.5 per 100,000 population). At 530.1 drug felony convictions per 100,000 population 1998, Denver’s rate was 3.38 times higher than the national average (157.0 per 100,000).

[135]. Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator and Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. In 1986, a total of 398 drug felony cases were filed in Denver District Court. In 1996, 415 drug offenders were sentenced to prison from Denver District Court.

[136]. Colorado Office of the State Court Administrator; Colorado Division of Criminal Justice; and Bureau Justice Statistics. In 1994, Denver’s rate of imprisoning drug offenders stood about 20 percent higher than the national average (73.0 versus 60.5 per 100,000 population). As the U.S. drug offense imprisonment rate rose slowly over the next five years, reaching 65.3 per 100,000 in 1998, Denver’s rate more than doubled. At 162.0 drug imprisonments per 100,000 population 1998, Denver’s rate was 2.48 times higher than the national average.

[137]. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2000. 2001. Between 1980 and 2000, the national incarceration rate in state prisons rose 232 percent, from 130 to 432 prisoners per 100,000 population. Colorado’s incarceration rate rose 320 percent over the same period, from 96 to 403 prisoners per 100,000 population.

[138]. A. Blumstein & A. J. Beck. “Population Growth in U.S. Prisons, 1980-1996,” in M. Tonry & J. Petersilia (eds), Crime and Justice, A Review of Research, Volume 26: Prisons. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999. According to Blumstein and Beck, drug offenses were the “dominant factor” in the growth of state and federal incarceration rates between 1980 and 1996: “Over the seventeen year range of our analysis, drugs evolved from being an offense with nearly the fewest prisoners to the one with by far the most prisoners. In 1980 an estimated 23,900 people were in state and federal prisons for drug offenses, accounting for an incarceration rate of less than 15 inmates per 100,000 adults. By 1996, the drug incarceration rate had grown to 148 inmates per 100,00 adults, more than ninefold, to rate a greater than that for the entire U.S. prison system in the fifty years to 1973.”

[139]. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2000. 2001. Colorado’s population of sentenced state prison inmates grew by 119.4 percent from 1990 to 2000. Only six sates recorded increases in their rates of prison population growth: Utah (123.4 percent); North Dakota (128.5 percent); Mississippi (138.0 percent); West Virginia (142.5 percent); Texas (164.3 percent); and Idaho (181.8 percent).

[140]. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2000. 2001. Colorado’s population of sentenced state prison inmates grew by 119.4 percent from 1990 to 2000, two-thirds faster than the national average increase of 71.7 percent.

[142]. Colorado Department of Corrections. As of June 2001, 4,923 (30.3 percent) of Colorado’s total inmate population of 16,272 were from Denver (last known residence).

[144]. Colorado Department of Corrections. As of June 2001, 3,171 (19.5 percent) of Colorado’s total inmate population of 16,272 were drug offenders (drugs as most serious current offense).

[146]. Colorado Department of Corrections. As of June 2001, 1,341 (42.3 percent) of Colorado’s 3,171 drug offense inmates (drugs as most serious current offense) were from Denver (last known residence).

[147]. Colorado Department of Corrections and Bureau of Justice Statistics. As of June 2001, the 1,341 drug offenders from Denver held in Colorado state prisons amounted to a drug offender incarceration rate for Denver of 308.2 prisoners per 100,000 population 18 and older. As of June 2001, the U.S. drug offender incarceration rate in state prisons was 125.0 per 100,000. Denver’s rate was 2.47 times higher than the U.S. average.