Drug-Case Rise Has Leveled, Study Shows

WASHINGTON — Federal drug prosecutions rose sharply under presidents Reagan and Bush, then leveled off during the Clinton administration, statistics released Saturday by a university-based research group showed.

Analyzing computerized case records kept by the Justice Department and the federal court system, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, based at Syracuse University, found that federal criminal drug enforcement more than doubled during Reagan’s eight years in office and continued to rise under Bush.

The number of federal drug cases rose from 8,775 in 1981 to 19,038 in 1988, according to U.S. attorneys’ records detailed in the study. In 1989, Bush’s first year, prosecutions jumped to 24,149 and reached a record in the 1992 election year, 28,585.

Under Clinton, federal drug prosecutions dropped for the next two years, then rose again in 1995, the last year for which statistics are available. The annual average number of cases under Bush and Clinton were similar: 25,990 under Bush, 25,672 under Clinton.

The Clinton administration did post better conviction totals than Bush, averaging 17,767 convictions per year, compared with a Bush administration average of 16,714.

Justice Department spokesman Gregory King said: “The comparison in this study ignores the fact that the Clinton administration has brought significantly more complex drug cases targeting large drug gangs and violent organizations.”

The study also misses the increase under Clinton in federal agents working with state and local police to prosecute drug criminals in state and local courts, he said.