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U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 04:17:32 PM EST
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According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report released today, marijuana arrests reached an all-time high in 2005 -- 42.5% of all drug arrests were for pot. Pot arrests have doubled since the 1990's.

In 2005,

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 88 percent -- some 696,074 Americans -- were charged with possession only. The remaining 90,471 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. In past years, roughly 30 percent of those arrested were age 19 or younger.

Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of NORML says:

Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past decade. During this same time, arrests for cocaine and heroin have declined sharply, implying that increased enforcement of marijuana laws is being achieved at the expense of enforcing laws against the possession and trafficking of more dangerous drugs.

St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 18 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater - and arguably far fewer - health risks than alcohol or tobacco. A better and more sensible solution would be to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco."

How does marijuana use among the young (age 15 to 34) compare between the U.S. and Europe? The European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction has published an updated chart. Our drug laws don't work. It's time to abandon the punitive policy towards recreational drug use.

How does Europe treat marijuna use? Check out this chart:

Despite the different legal approaches towards cannabis, a common trend can be seen across the Member States in the development of alternative measures to criminal prosecution for cases of use and possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use without aggravating circumstances. Fines, cautions, probation, exemption from punishment and counselling are favoured by most European justice systems. It is of interest to note that cannabis in particular is frequently distinguished from other substances and given special treatment in these cases, either in the law, by prosecutorial directive, or by the judiciary.

But they may be losing their enlightenment:

Nevertheless, police arrests for drug offences, mainly those involving cannabis and mainly use-related offences, are increasing in several countries - see the EMCDDA Statistical Bulletin for further details.

The report is here.

For all drug use among this age group in Europe, see this chart. For cocaine use, see this one.

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    U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High | 23 comments (23 topical)
    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 05:04:30 PM EST
    There is no good reason to criminalize the use of ANY drug, and there is no good reason to criminalize the sale or transfer of ANY drug. Note: income from legal fees is not a good reason.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 06:18:00 PM EST
    Most of the American legal community would vehemently disagree with you, myself included. CRIME itself is the number one reason why most drugs are criminalized. Personally, I find criminalizing marijuana an incredible waste of time and resources better spent elsewhere. But, as for the overwhelming majority of those drugs that are criminalized (in NYS), there's a damned good reason for it.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#4)
    by Patrick on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 06:47:26 PM EST
    Of those nearly 700,000 arrests for possession, what was the harshest punishment? A fine? In California, simple possession is a ticket (Which is technically an arrest) and a fine. I think it's similar in most states.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 07:37:06 PM EST
    IIRC there was a cocain study in both Italy and Germany recently. Cocaine is a very stable substance, and the study checked for the amount of cocaine in rivers. Since they knew how much cocaine the body processes they could calculate the amount that was "consumed". (Note I am quoting from memory here, to read the articles I would have subscribe to a service). As it turned out, the amount they found in the rivers was far greater than anticipated, which could mean one of two things: 1.) the body processes a smaller percentage of cocaine 2.) a far greater amount of cocaine is consumed. The results were quite shocking, but this sadly hasn't resulted in a change of legislation yet. I might be totally wrong about the stories, the studies, and the results. So please do your own searches on the internet. Don't believe a word I said until you can confirm it. Legalize Erdbeereis!

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 07:37:06 PM EST
    Patrick, It is not a simple and minor as you make it sound. What are the dollar costs associated with the average arrest? Police, courts, processing, legal fees, lost time from work, lost future job income due to criminal records, lost tax revenue from people who pose no threat except that they smile a whole lot, say weird things like "wow, far out, man", eat everything in the refrigerator, then fall asleep etc. etc., and don't get obnoxious and commit assaults? Multiply by 700,000. There goes resources that can and should be used for real crime fighting. How much real crime could your department take off the streets with those added resources? What are the social costs?

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#6)
    by JSN on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 07:37:06 PM EST
    Most discussions about criminal penalties for marijuana possession degenerate into unproductive yelling matches. What does arrest mean they were issued a citation for possession and appeared in court later or were they booked into jail and had initial appearance the next time court was in session? In Iowa we now have a simple misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia statute involving a citation which the police use instead of pot possession a serious midemeanor charge where they would have to take the person to jail. The police are much more likely to issue a citation than they are to arrest someone and take them to jail when they know the jail will immediately release them on cash bond. As a consequence I am wondering if there a real increase in drug activity or the arrests are up because of a change in law enforcement practices. At the time that distilled spirits became available there were serious problems with public drunks because people were used to drinking wine, mead and beer and in those days they had fairly low alcohol contents. The way they managed to reduce the seriousness of these problems was to control the manufacture of distilled spirits and by taxing them heavily. Which is what is done now. Abuse of alcohol causes serious health and social problems and directly or indirectly kills lots of folks each year. Prohibition was given up because the criminals had a big new source of income providing illegal booze. They also annoyed people by killing each other in messy ways. If we could ever have a rational discussion about marijuana we might try control of manufacture and taxes. If the price is kept low smuggling in pot from other countires would not be profitable. The illegal drug trade would still exisit but they would not deal in pot. I suppose that it is possible for someone to kill themselves from an overdose of pot but I am not aware of it ever happening. However people do manage to kill themselves with overdoses of other drugs or with mixtures of drugs and alcohol so pot should be treated as a separate issue and whenever that is tried both sides shoot it down.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#8)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 09:49:37 PM EST
    "I say we legalize it and take it out of the hands of children. It's too good for them." Pat Paulsen

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#7)
    by Patrick on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 10:14:30 PM EST
    Edgar, A citation hardly counts as the average arrest and the costs associated are quite insignificant, perhaps in other states it's more significant but I somehow doubt to the level you'd like. You assume that all 700,000 potheads had jobs, or pay taxes...Using the demographic ("19 or younger")as used in the post, I'd say they were likely to be on the lower end of the wage scale and contribute little if any to taxes. I know it sounds good as written, but I'd imagine a very small percentange of the annual spending on marijuana enforcement is spent on arresting people for possession. My agency got nearly $100K from the DEA, exactly 0 was spend on simple possession cases. JSN, You show me a way to reliably control and tax marijuana cultivation and I'll stand right next to you...Problem is, I don't think it can be controlled without creating some new and huge gov't bureacracy to oversee it, thereby effectively cancelling any tax benefit (Tax benefit????? Yeah, like that's possible...)

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#10)
    by Edger on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 12:21:52 AM EST
    Patrick: You assume that all 700,000 potheads had jobs, or pay taxes Virtually ALL of the people I know who smoke pot do both, Patrick. I don't smoke it anymore. Haven't for 25 years, but I used to. Sometimes with on duty cops. They were much more pleasant than the ones drowning their frustrations in bars. Demonizing doesn't help your case. We're long past believing in simple minded Reefer Madness. I'd imagine a very small percentange of the annual spending on marijuana enforcement is spent on arresting people for possession. Did you not even read Jeralyn's post??
    According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report released today, marijuana arrests reached an all-time high in 2005 -- 42.5% of all drug arrests were for pot. Pot arrests have doubled since the 1990's.
    You show me a way to reliably control and tax marijuana cultivation Why bother? Why the need to control? What is the justification? No one here has come up with one, and the government has never been able to produce one that makes any sense. Problem is, I don't think it can be controlled without creating some new and huge gov't bureacracy to oversee it Which is exactly what we have right now. DEA's budget for 2006 is $2.4 Billion. I'd imagine a very small percentange of the annual spending on marijuana enforcement is spent on arresting people for possession. Imagine all you want, but try coming up with some useful numbers and costs while you at it. Smoke a joint first. It helps with "imagineering", I'm told. ;-)

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#12)
    by roxtar on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 01:04:40 AM EST
    Even a conviction for simple possession carries a stack of collateral consequences. Loss of eligibility for financial aid and public assistance, for example. Here in WV, a first offense for possession of less than 15 gm. of marijuana is punishable by 90 days to 6 months in jail, with the proviso that unsupervised probation is mandatory, and the conviction can be expunged from one's record if probation is completed successfully. The favorite trick among law enforcement is to charge even small amounts as Possession with Intent to Deliver, (felony, 1-5 years in the pen) which they generously offer to reduce to simple possession if the unlucky defendant agrees to make a few buys for the drug task force. These drug task forces are utterly without scruples, spending thousands and thousands of dollars to encourage casual users to entrap 1/8 oz. dealers into prison. Don't get me started on the mis-use of snitches. I know of one desperate woman who informed on her own son in such a scenario.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:21:15 PM EST
    Cpinva: Don't follow your logic. And you will note that I SPECIFICALLY did NOT point to marijuana as a drug that should be criminalized. While not thrilled by it, in my experience, I find it to be relatively innocuous in the overall scheme of things. The economics route is a red herring, especially when it comes to the more hardcore drugs. Can the U.S. better control the use of marijuana by legalizing it? Sure. Can tons of money be made by the government in the process? Sure. However, that logic breaks down when you get past marijuana and into the more hardcore drugs. Rarely have I had pothead clients who need to commit crimes to get their fix. Sad to say, I can almost NEVER say that about my crack, heroin, and meth-addled clients. Pot merely alters you in subtle ways; the others take control of you. I once had a client try to sell her baby for a vial of crack. Never yet heard of a pothead reaching such a nadir.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    The enforcement of state and local marijuana laws annually costs US taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion, approximately $10,400 per arrest. Of this total, annual police costs are $3.7 billion, judicial/legal costs are $853 million, and correctional costs are $3.1 billion. In both California and New York, state fiscal costs dedicated to marijuana law enforcement annually total over $1 billion. Top five states for all marijuana arrests: 1) California (60,111 marijuana arrests) 2) New York (57,504 marijuana arrests) 3) Texas (51,563 marijuana arrests) 4) Illinois (41,447 marijuana arrests) 5) Georgia (23,977 marijuana arrests) Top five states for marijuana arrests per capita (National Average = 239 marijuana arrests/per 100,000 citizens): 1) Nebraska (458 marijuana arrests per 100,000) 2) Louisiana (398 marijuana arrests per 100,000) 3) Wyoming (386 marijuana arrests per 100,000) 4) Kentucky (364 marijuana arrests per 100,000) 5) Illinois (359 marijuana arrests per 100,000)
    --NORML News

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#13)
    by JSN on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Patrick The beaurocracy is called the Dept. of Agriculture and your point is well taken. OTOH control does not have to be perfect if the cost of pot is low most of the production will be from a relatively small number of large efficient producers.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#14)
    by kdog on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Of those nearly 700,000 arrests for possession, what was the harshest punishment? A fine?
    All the more reason not to bother....let people live free.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    This prohibition is the height of irrationality. Patrick, a decent hardworking guy, is still twisting his mind to try and rationalize the complete waste of time, resources and people. There is NO compelling interest in the government prohibiting this substance. None whatsoever. Also, the stoner paradigm (we're all just lazy, unemployed tokers) is just that, a paradigm, a stereotype. Informed by nothing but the knowledge that, without logic on its side, the argument must descend into demonization and marginalization to keep any steam. Also, people can freely grow their own tobacco if they want to, they can brew their own beer, so why SHOULDN'T they be allowed to grow a few plants for themselves? The entire argument is just inane. Freedom!!!

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#16)
    by Dadler on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Dang, last post by Dadler. Sorry.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#17)
    by yank in london on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Is the pun in the title intended?

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    FYI, If Department of Social Services comes to your house and even smells marijuana in the vicinity, you can lose your child, be forced into a drug testing program designed for heroin and cocaine users (i.e. calling everyday to see if your "color" is up and going in to a lab 3-5 times per week for testing), be forced to go to drug counseling (regardless of work, school or medical conflicts and are vunerable for as long as they want to continue the "at risk" assessment.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    crime is caused by criminalization and the real reasons marijuana is illegal are 1. big pharm can't patent it and hence make a killing 2. the entire world banking system would have collapsed years ago if it wasnt for illegal drug money 3. making drugs illegal creates a black market for them which is used as a basis to expand police powers and diminish the rights of citizens. But some people like living in a police state, I guess

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#22)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 06:55:55 PM EST
    Lavocat, Nor will you find any medical literature documenting one case of overdosage of MJ. I agree with zero regulation. The FDA should simply reclassify it from schedule I to schedule V. Treat it like any other herbal remedy.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#24)
    by kdog on Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 04:20:29 PM EST
    Treat it like any other herbal remedy
    That's the ticket....and the most apt definition of MJ I know...an herbal remedy.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 06:47:45 PM EST
    I think the biggest problem is to take the mass view of drugs and fix it. all drugs are the same in the majorities eyes. I've seen people O.D. and have known people that have died form drug use. Sorry but not all drugs are the same and some should be illegal. We have a basic responsibility to respect each other and some drugs prevent that.

    Re: U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High (none / 0) (#25)
    by zak822 on Thu Sep 21, 2006 at 06:55:12 AM EST
    Let's face it folks. Weed is a much easier, safer and cost effective bust than is cocaine or heroin. It's a great way to keep your arrest numbers up, and therefore, maintain funding levels for your department. There are no rational reasons for weed to be illegal. Simple prejudices, some shown in this thread, are all that sustains this house of cards. And the fact that it's mostly an easy bust.

    U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High | 23 comments (23 topical)