In addition to drug crimes, the Sentencing Commission reports statistics about prosecution of illegal aliens. Instead of dealing with doped-up heroin addicts, cops are interacting with hopped-up meth heads-“tweakers,” in law enforcement parlance-who are much more likely to attack and injure police officers. The rise in meth use may even help explain the increase in deadly violence against police, with intentional killing of police officers reaching a 20-year high in 2021. People using meth are exponentially more inclined to chemically aided violence than heroin users. The Sentencing Commission’s information about the prevalence of methamphetamine thus provides important clues about the general rise of violent crime in the United States, particularly homicides. Users smoke, inject, or snort meth, then act out in violent and unpredictable ways. Methamphetamine, particularly crystal meth, is an explosive and addictive stimulant. Heroin is a central nervous system depressant addicts use it and nod off. Though the threat of opioids and heroin remains high, methamphetamine presents a different kind of menace. Methamphetamine prosecutions account for almost half of those cases.
The commission’s recently issued 2021 annual report, for instance, identifies drug cases as the largest group of federal cases for 2021. Though the commission is a virtual shell now, with only one out of seven voting positions filled (it requires a quorum of at least four members to take any formal action), its staff continues to provide valuable data about drugs, firearms, and immigration that help explain current crime trends. Recently appointed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s service on the commission garnered much attention during her recent confirmation hearings. Sentencing Commission, an independent judicial agency created by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, promulgates sentencing guidelines in federal criminal cases and aggregates data about federal sentences.
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