Marijuana Arrests Driving America’s So-Called ‘Drug War,’ Latest FBI Data Shows
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September 19, 2011
Police made 853,838 arrests in 2010 for marijuana-related offenses, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The arrest total is among the highest ever reported by the agency and is nearly identical to the total number of cannabis-related arrests reported in 2009.According to the report, marijuana arrests now comprise more than one-half (52 percent) of all drug arrests in the United States. An estimated 46 percent of all drug arrests are for offenses related to marijuana possession.
“Today, as in past years, the so-called ‘drug war’ remains fueled by the arrests of minor marijuana possession offenders, a disproportionate percentage of whom are ethnic minorities,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a prepared statement. “It makes no sense to continue to waste law enforcements’ time and taxpayers’ dollars to arrest and prosecute Americans for their use of a substance that poses far fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco.”
Of those charged with marijuana law violations, 750,591 (88 percent) were arrested for marijuana offenses involving possession only. The remaining 103,247 individuals were charged with “sale/manufacture,” a category that includes virtually all cultivation offenses.
By region, the percentage of marijuana arrests was highest in the Midwest (63.5 percent of all drug arrests) and southern regions (57 percent of all drug arrests) of the United States and lowest in the west, where pot prosecutions comprised only 39 percent of total drug arrests.
By contrast, the percentage of arrests for heroin and cocaine was lowest in the Midwest (14 percent of all arrests) and highest in the northeast (29 percent of all arrests).
Overall, law enforcement agents nationwide arrested 1,638,846 people last year for drug abuse violations, surpassing arrests for all other crimes.
Since 2000, law enforcement have reported making an estimated 7.9 million arrests for marijuana violations.
82 Responses to “Marijuana Arrests Driving America’s So-Called ‘Drug War,’ Latest FBI Data Shows”
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[...] enforcement answer to poor economy? Marijuana Arrests Driving America Police made 853,838 arrests in 2010 for marijuana-related offenses, according to the Federal [...]
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The government (DEA) complains that the liberalization of our drug laws would increase cannabis consumption. WELL SO WHAT! We should be aggressively marketing cannabis as a HEALTHY, SAFE, *NATURAL alternative to ethanol (i.e. “alcohol”). Herb VS Poison; Cheetos Vs. Rape; Sleep Vs. Violence; Hunger Vs. Sickness.
Yeah less [500,000+] people were arrested for “drunkenness”. Meanwhile 70%+ of teens are using alcohol by the time they graduate (decreasing because of cannabis use increase maybe???). The number of alcohol users to arrests is disproportionately lower vs. consumption and arrest of [non-violent, non-criminal, peaceful, often SAFE] cannabis consumers. If they actually spent the time going after REAL crime then that number would probably be a lot higher.
The message the DEA sends to kids: It’s OK if you use alcohol and beat the hell out of your wife. BUT LORD KNOWS, if you even TOUCH marihuana your ass is grass! Misdemeanor. Fines. Jail. Records. Loss of license. Loss of child custody. Loss of property….And yet over the last 500 TRILLION GAZILLION years NO ONE PERSON HAS EVER BEEN CONFIRMED DEAD BECAUSE OF SMOKING TOO MUCH POT.
It’s a gateway drug, causes cancer, greatly increases violence and violent crimes, it’s involved in 80%+ of college sexual abuse [rape] cases, contributes to almost half [or more] of all traffic accidents and deaths, it’s a major contributor to overdose deaths in teens and adults, and accounts for 50% of all violent teen deaths.
Is this an AD for marijuana prevention? I don’t think so! Try alcohol.
Has anyone put forth the data that shows CIGARETTES ARE THE REAL FUCKING GATEWAY DRUG??? 80 TIMES more likely to have used illegal drugs if they smoked cigarettes before age 15…..
“Results of this study deliver a strong cautionary message that those who smoked cigarettes before the age of 15 were up to 80 times more likely to use illegal drugs than those who did not,” said lead author Shenghan Lai, MD, MPH, associate research professor, Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
OK so I’m gonna make the educated assumption that the government is well aware that cigarettes are the ‘true’ gateway to harder drugs. The fact is if they made it illegal it would be exactly like marijuana prohibition. I really hope they do try to make cigarettes illegal. People would be pissed!
It is astounding that after all of the testing that has proven Marijuana to be virtually harmless and with significant medical value, that the fear and propaganda that it is a gateway drug continues to be spread like manure.
Who is behind it? Alcohol lobby, pharma lobby or could it be the 3rd party fo profit prison industry.
Follow the money and you will find the answer. It is true that tremendous amounts of revenue can be made by legalizing this natural product, and that significant sums could be saved by releasing thousands of otherwise productive citizens from jails, but the status quo is a sweeter deal for those that are mining their pot of gold.
What happened to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? Enough is enough,our civil rights are clearly being violated, and we need to speak up now !
We are getting screwed by corporate America.
The government needs to subtract marijuana from the whole War On Drugs…as long it is in the equation, it will never be won. Take it off the banned substance list and allow the states regulate it however they see fit. People voted and passed laws for medical marijuana, and for the government to prosecute them and say they have no choice because it’s against federal law is irresponsible…Stop tippy toeing around the issue!!!!
I think the feds are so addicted to alcohol and tobacco that their better judgement has been affected. These should be off shelves. We are too comfortable with (dea-th).
In today’s news, the justice dept was audited and found that they spent $16 per a muffin at a conference in DC. These clowns got away with it. Someones head should be on a platter. A high school principal in Atlanta lost his job, because he used a school credit card for non school items, but all money was repaid at the time of billing/payment due, complete with receipts. What justice does our Justice dept work towards?
[...] [<---this is a link you can click to see the report commenters] on Monday, and as noted in the NORML blog and Drug Warrant 853,838 people were arrested for cannabis in 2010. It's one of the highest [...]
Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the corporations.
Brace yourself my children – we’re in for the biggest fight in the history of man. It’s time to separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls. No one gets out of this one. You’re either an “American Patriot” – or – a “mindless robot.” You have no options – you either is or you ain’t. May I close with one statement – “If you lay down with dogs – you’re gonna come up with fleas.”
P.S This is all a bunch of balloon juice – including my own bitching and moaning. If we don’t understand that it has already happened a year ago – we need to stick our heads back in the sand – or – up our ass – wherever we pulled it our from. We need to “get real” – and – do something about it. “Action talks and bullshit walks.”
the black helicopters flew twice this year, first on august 2nd, and then just last week, more helicopters, more law enforcement, more arrests. it’s the nazification of the world playing out right before our eyes, while over 70% of We the People vote for medical marijuana and 50% vote for complete legalization.
I was recently kicked out of college and arrested for having a only pipe in my room. i just cant understand how anyone could think that is fair.
[...] Marijuana arrests drive so-called War On Drugs — NORML "It's illegal???" [...]
They ask for your opinion, then when you give it, it is not printed because this site dosen’t like it?? Why bother!!!
I wonder how many politicians and law enforcement people are alcoholics? If they will not play fair, then neither should we. Call for a Federal ban on alcohol, prohibition, until such time as they see the logic of legalization. The tax revinue from pot taxes would solve the economy problem, but then so would disbanning the Federal Reserve Bank, as it is illegal and never was ratified by a caucus of represented states. Technically, the U.S doesn’t owe this money because the whole deal is illegal and technically unenforcable.
Arresting people for marijuana is pathetic. Pathetic tools just doing their ‘job’…
Actually arresting people for MJ is not the police’s job, it is about time we start telling them so. Stop training police to be pathetic tools.
Sometimes i wonder if our government is in cahoots with the drug lords.I think the government makes MORE MONEY with it being illegal. LAWYERS REHABS. DRUG TESTING GEER,CORPORATE PRISONS , and of course the thousands of D.E.A. jobs etc..Just think if there were no drug lords you would not need the D.E.A.
We need countries where hemp is legal to make products out of hemp that could change the world.
1. make fiber board out of hemp that would fire retardent and termite resistant (insurance companies would support this)
2. make a bio-degrable plastic
slojoe: “Sometimes i wonder if our government is in cahoots with the drug lords.”
Of course they do they have been doing it for years its been proven and they have been making big profit on it. The borders control is lowsy on purpose the immigrants are let in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBh_hzU-jdI
I was put on one year supervised probation along with random drug tests and close to 1200$ in fines for having a pipe with no weed. A misdameanor that cost me a job at walmart due to my background check.
The major recession begins in ’08, and now many view us as having gone ‘double dip.’ Californians spend nearly $184 million per year per on death penalty cases per a recent Huffington Post article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/california-death-penalty-_0_n_880436.html)
and 52% of all drug arrests nationwide are for a substance which is more therapeutic and less dangerous than alcohol, which is legal. If we are serious about addressing our financial issues, we need leadership with common sense.
MARIJUANA PROHIBITION the GATEWAY DRUG of power for FEDERALISM and THE NEW WORLD ORDER and THE 21ST CENTURY INQUISITORS INCORPORATED. The UNICORNIZATION of AMERIKA. HAVE POWER-WILL TRAVEL/YOU’RE FUCKED
prohibation of hemp and marijuana is the primary funding device for terrorism and criminal behavior. this justifies a larger police state, which the expense of which to maintain prisons at a huge cost to the taxpayers, that leads to the bankructcy of the united states which will then justify dictatorship, in line with the elites IE new world orders goals. the time to stand againsts this jim crow law is now.vote for ron paul only libertarians stand for liberty, read the constitution. the declaration of independence was written on HEMP paper. hint hint
[...] term in office saw some of the highest rates for marijuana arrests ever in recorded history? Marijuana Arrests Driving America Looks fair and balanced to me… no, no it doesn't at all. Over 50% of all arrests for drugs are [...]
[...] of marijuana and eventually decriminalize possession of other currently-illegal substances. Portugal decriminalized possession of all drugs in 2001 and has had significant success since then. In 2010 US law enforcement officials made over [...]
one nation under god…..No one has the right to tell me what i can and cant put in my body. Market tobacco and alcohol. their’s more Deaths, The FACTS are out, The money can be made. And The only gateway cannabis is leads straight to the frige. For all the TV ads trying to prevent doing drugs smoking cigs drinking. It has done nothing to lower those number that are so high GOD GAVE US ONE THING… FREE WILL. If that’s what our country was found on freedom of BULLSHIT PROSECUTIONS. A smart man wrote a book A very informative book with a challenge on the back worth 100,000$ dollars Prove it wrong, he died April 15′Th 2010 jack herer wrote the “emperor wears no clothes”. A view on this Natural born plant to our earth Cannabis Sativa, Indaca, rigudles. thousands of sub species, femainaized seeds, auto flowering. They have the facts the hundreds of doctors, law enforcement for cannabis legalization thees not much more we can do notthing will ever get done when (DEM) & (REP) are the 2 richest most powerful “parties” organizations in america. vote smarter people into office. Are government would rather be placing their concerns else were ,you know what the president gets blamed WHAT ABOUT OUR SENATORS CONGRESSMAN stop letting them feed bullshit promises and not deliver than have them reelected and bitch cause nothing gets done. If the power of love could over power the love of power we would be in a better world. The government is nothing without its people. People should educate themselves WE ALL SHOULD EDUCATE MORE PEOPLE. this is not in formal writing spelling format so forgive the quick type one love and have a good day night or were ever anyone is.