Nationwide, blacks make up about 62 percent of prisoners incarcerated on drug charges, compared with 36 percent of whites, according to research done by Human Rights Watch. Census figures indicate that blacks make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population and whites — including white Hispanics — about 82 percent.

Black men are admitted to state prison on drug charges at a rate about 13 times that of white men, the study said. On average, 482 of every 100,000 black men sentenced to prison are sent there on drug charges, compared with just 36 of every 100,000 white men.

(Source: abcnews.com; Photo: Chris Cozzone, prisonzone.com)