Issues of sentencing and philosophies underlying corrections have shifted dramatically since 1980, but an overriding theme in the expansion of the system of corrections and the increased rates of incarceration for both men and women is an increase in the number of people who are sentenced to prison for drug offenses. Expansion of the use of prison to address drug crime in the United States began in 1980 and accelerated with the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The war on drugs, which has punctuated two decades of sentencing strategies, has had profound effects on the demographic features of American prisons. Two startling effects or byproducts of the war on drugs have been the increase in the rate of incarceration of African-American men and the increase in the rate of incarceration of women. Overall trends in incarceration indicate that rates continue to rise, while offenders imprisoned for drug crimes have increased disproportionately to all other crimes. This paper reviews trends and disparities in current incarceration patterns. Tables and references