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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "Matus" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:matus@matus1976.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>matus@matus1976.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wrote<BR>> -----Original Message-----On Behalf
Of Samantha Atkins<BR>> <BR>> In the US we have 2.3 million<BR>>
in prison I heard very recently. More than any country. More
than<BR>> any country on a per capita basis ever in history. I have
heard that<BR>> around 60% nationwide are in on drug charges, most for
simple<BR>> possession. After decades of such hate-filled abuse it
still<BR>> <BR>> - samantha<BR>> <BR><BR>Ah another one of my
favorite statistics. Really Samantha, does the US<BR>imprison a higher
percentage of it's population than Vietnam? Burma?<BR>Cuba? Saudi
Arabia? And where exactly do these statistics come from,<BR>their
respective ministries of honorable and reliable information? <BR><BR>Do
we ever get to see official sources for these
statistics?</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The UN website has some independent reports: <A
href="http://www.unicri.it/wwk/related/pni/docs/2001/walmsley.pdf">http://www.unicri.it/wwk/related/pni/docs/2001/walmsley.pdf</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>You can also find this short statement at the UN
website: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
<P align=left>World Prison Population - Overview</P></B></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>
<P align=left>...In order to fully understand the magnitude of the problem, it
is important first of all to have an appreciation of the number of prisoners
incarcerated world-wide. The second edition (2000) of the World Prison
Population List shows that over 8 ½ million people are held in penal
institutions throughout the world, either as pre-trial detainees (remand
prisoners) or having been convicted and sentenced. Half of these are in the
United States, Russia and China, and the first two countries also exhibit the
highest prison population rates...</P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Googling for 'UN statistics on
imprisonment by country' is quite fruitful.</FONT></P>
<P align=left>Jack Parkinson</P></FONT><BR></DIV><FONT
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