Is the drug war over? The declining proportion of drug offense inmates

The explosion of the prison population involving large increases in drug offenders as a consequence of the war on drugs has arguably been the story of criminal justice during the part 20 years. Yet by 2000, the proportion of U.S. inmates sentenced to drug offences had been fairly stable for a decade, with an overall decline in recent years. In 2000, the proportion of drug offense inmates was only 0.3 percent above its 1990 level. Is it possible that the war on drugs has not been the principal driver of prison increases for the better part of the last decade? If so, could it be that one of the more infamous eras of U.S. incarceration is coming to a close?