Police arrested a record 872,721 persons for marijuana violations in 2007

[BacktoBasics]

Washington, DC: Police arrested a record 872,721 persons for marijuana violations in 2007, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. This is the largest total number of annual arrests for cannabis ever recorded by the FBI.

Cannabis arrests now comprise nearly 47.5 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor cannabis offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who noted that at current rates, a cannabis consumer is arrested every 37 seconds in America. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 775,138 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 97,583 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. Nearly three in four of those arrested are under age 30.

"Present policies have done little if anything to decrease marijuana's availability or dissuade youth from trying it," St. Pierre said, noting young people in the U.S. now frequently report that they have easier access to pot than alcohol or tobacco.

"Two other major points standout from today’s record marijuana arrests: Overall, there has been a dramatic 195 percent increase in marijuana arrests in the last 15 years -- yet the public's access to pot remains largely unfettered and the self-reported use of cannabis remains largely unchanged. Second, America’s Midwest is decidedly the hotbed for cannabis arrests with over 60 percent of all cannabis-related arrests. The region of America with the least amount of cannabis arrests is the West with 29 percent. This latter result is arguably a testament to the passage of various state and local decriminalization efforts over the past several years."

"Of further note, this year the Midwest saw a 13.3% increase in cannabis sales/cultivation-related arrests, while the West saw a 14% increase in possession-related cannabis arrests."

The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2007 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s.

"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that nearly 9 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past ten years. 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.In fact, October 10, 2008 will mark the arrest of the 20 millionth cannabis consumer arrested under cannabis prohibition, circa 1937.

St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 20 million Americans. Nevertheless, nearly 100 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 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."

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c220/Trailer21/world-cannabis-laws.png

[lefty]

Actually, they arrested Tlong 872,721 times

[leemajors]

those stats will look great to the task masters in the govt. let's pour more into it!

[balli]

Nothing needs to be said except...

:vomit:

[T Park]

Treat it like alchohol.

Legalize it, tax it, if you own a business and have a zero tolerence policy about being drunk or having drank on the job, treat this the same.


Waste of time and resources. This is as fruitless and stupid as prohibition.

[T Park]

The only thing if you legalize it, Nancy Botwin goes out of business, and Weeds gets canceled.

[fatsack]

i wish they spent as much time and energy busting the scum that break into cars, residences, and such.

[fatsack]

Treat it like alchohol.

Legalize it, tax it, if you own a business and have a zero tolerence policy about being drunk or having drank on the job, treat this the same.


Waste of time and resources. This is as fruitless and stupid as prohibition.

amen.

[T Park]

i wish they spent as much time and energy busting the scum that break into cars, residences, and such.


I've had my house broken into 5 times in the last 12 years.

The cops just treat us southsiders like shit. Fuck them.

[The Reckoning]

the #1 cash crop in the world. the gov would make a killing if they legalized and taxed it...and could easily pay off the national debt

[T Park]

the #1 cash crop in the world. the gov would make a killing if they legalized and taxed it...and could easily pay off the national debt

Thats assuming the government operated correctly and would do that.

But they wouldn't and don't.

They would blow it on worthless BS like they do now.

[The Reckoning]

well it would atleast save them the hassle of having to do unconstitutional raids on legal californian distribution centers

[Danny Trejo]

The only thing if you legalize it, Nancy Botwin goes out of business, and Weeds gets canceled.

Is Tpark's girlfriend using his laptop or did Tpark become a comic over night?

Good material S A! :tu

[fatsack]

well it would atleast save them the hastle of having to do unconstitutional raids on legal californian distribution centers

and then they could more on to more serious issues.. like getting the NFL network on Time Warner Cable!!!

[T Park]

Or doing proclimations like praising Brett favre's career.

:pctoss

[The Reckoning]

and then they could more on to more serious issues.. like getting the NFL network on Time Warner Cable!!!

id rather have them argue about that than believing we have a unitary system

[baseline bum]

Treat it like alchohol.

Legalize it, tax it, if you own a business and have a zero tolerence policy about being drunk or having drank on the job, treat this the same.


Waste of time and resources. This is as fruitless and stupid as prohibition.

That is seriously a much better way to keep it out of kids hands too. In HS I had much easier access to weed and coke than alcohol, as dealers never made you show ID or get someone who's 21 to buy for you.

[T Park]

That is seriously a much better way to keep it out of kids hands too. In HS I had much easier access to weed and coke than alcohol, as dealers never made you show ID or get someone who's 21 to buy for you.


Yup.

Thats the fucked up thing.

Its harder to get a bottle of beer, that to a kid might taste like shit and won't like it, than get an 8 ball that the kid snorts up his nose, gets hooked on, then starts robbing houses and holding up old ladies for 10 dollar bills on cherry street.

[j-6]

Weed is legal in Ontario? I didn't know that.

[TwAnKiEs]

The little black section ... Varies by religion...

:lmao:lmao
:lmao:lmao
:lmao

[TheTruth]

Speaking of which. Does anyone have the number for a good dealer? Mine got arrested yesterday.

[CuckingFunt]

The little black section ... Varies by religion...

:lmao:lmao
:lmao:lmao
:lmao

Region.

[fatsack]

Speaking of which. Does anyone have the number for a good dealer? Mine got arrested yesterday.

PM mouse.

[CubanMustGo]

Treat it like alchohol.

Legalize it, tax it, if you own a business and have a zero tolerence policy about being drunk or having drank on the job, treat this the same.


Waste of time and resources. This is as fruitless and stupid as prohibition.

OMG, T Park and I agree on something. :toast

[Trainwreck2100]

Its hard to tax something that can be grown in a backyard

[The Reckoning]

they should sell hydroponics. then everyone would be happy...note that a pack of "marijuana lights" would be as cheap or even cheaper than a pack of cigs. why would a person go through growing all that when they could run to the convience store and have it rolled for them?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Its hard to tax something that can be grown in a backyard

True, but you could theoretically do the same with tobacco. Or your own grain which you could then distill into liquor. Legalize it and let cororate America get in the game and, as with the other two examples, the finished product is readily available, at a lower cost than the DIY approach, and probably of a higher quality too.

[mavsfan1000]

Speaking of which. Does anyone have the number for a good dealer? Mine got arrested yesterday.

Still looking one myself. Pm me if you are a dealer or know a dealer and live in Houston. :D

[The Reckoning]

possible dealer in houston?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3547765

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I don't know if I could track him down now, but my freshman year in college my roommate (who was an uber-sheltered suburbanite richer WASP) decided that he and his pals were going to try weed. His hook up dropped by the dorm while he was out and if I didn't know any better I'd swear it was Towelly from South Park in disguise.

[timvp]

Marijuana will never be legalized because the prison system merry-go-round is a trillion dollar industry.

[Boris]

This kind of story pisses me off so much I need to fire one up!!

[The Reckoning]

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/marijuana/marijuana_ff.html

40%... talk about a democracy

[T Park]

Marijuana will never be legalized because the prison system merry-go-round is a trillion dollar industry.


Yuuuup.

[The Reckoning]

and you know most people lie about their usage in those surveys because they think Big Brother is after them

[slayermin]

I'm curious to know the stats on when and where these people were being popped. Is Joe Schmo walking down the street smoking a J or are they on the road? That arrest number seems absurd to me.

Meth addicts must love pot heads. They keep the heat off them.

[CuckingFunt]

Marijuana will never be legalized because the prison system merry-go-round is a trillion dollar industry.

Ding ding ding!!

[Ginobilly]

Washington, DC: Police arrested a record 872,721 persons for marijuana violations in 2007, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. This is the largest total number of annual arrests for cannabis ever recorded by the FBI.

Cannabis arrests now comprise nearly 47.5 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor cannabis offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who noted that at current rates, a cannabis consumer is arrested every 37 seconds in America. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 775,138 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 97,583 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. Nearly three in four of those arrested are under age 30.

"Present policies have done little if anything to decrease marijuana's availability or dissuade youth from trying it," St. Pierre said, noting young people in the U.S. now frequently report that they have easier access to pot than alcohol or tobacco.

"Two other major points standout from today’s record marijuana arrests: Overall, there has been a dramatic 195 percent increase in marijuana arrests in the last 15 years -- yet the public's access to pot remains largely unfettered and the self-reported use of cannabis remains largely unchanged. Second, America’s Midwest is decidedly the hotbed for cannabis arrests with over 60 percent of all cannabis-related arrests. The region of America with the least amount of cannabis arrests is the West with 29 percent. This latter result is arguably a testament to the passage of various state and local decriminalization efforts over the past several years."

"Of further note, this year the Midwest saw a 13.3% increase in cannabis sales/cultivation-related arrests, while the West saw a 14% increase in possession-related cannabis arrests."

The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2007 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s.

"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that nearly 9 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past ten years. 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.In fact, October 10, 2008 will mark the arrest of the 20 millionth cannabis consumer arrested under cannabis prohibition, circa 1937.

St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 20 million Americans. Nevertheless, nearly 100 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 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."

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c220/Trailer21/world-cannabis-laws.png

Damn who could fire one up in Spain?? :hat
No wonder Splitter wanted no part of USA. Euro's, beautiful women, good climate/ beaches, Weed, etc I know where Josh Howard is playing next!:rollin

[The Reckoning]

im moving to spain and opening up a coffee shop

[Ronaldo McDonald]

Legalize it and you have more automobile accidents. And people don't know to drive as it is.

[Ronaldo McDonald]

http://www.english-shop.de/images/Betty%20Crocker%20-%20Brownie%20Mix%20-%20Chocolate%20Fudge.jpg



I wonder if they'd start selling brown mix w/ weed inlcuded if they ever do legalize it.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

What a massive waste of taxpayer maoney and people's lives.

Legalize and regulate it already, or at the very least decriminalize it. That works well here.

However, as timvp said, it will never happen due to all that vested money in the prison system. That's a great example of a service that should NOT have been be privatised.

[leemajors]

Legalize it and you have more automobile accidents. And people don't know to drive as it is.

eat that propaganda up.

[Nbadan]

Yep, more people might try weed once if it was legal, but nobody is gonna become a pot-head just because weed all of the sudden was legalized or decriminalized. Also, I agree with TIMVP, the prison system and the cops have a nice thing going, cops get to keep their cash-cow industry that pours millions of dollars in marijuna law enforcement and the prison system gets lots of cheap labor...drug tests are essentially marijuana tests because other drugs get metabolized by your system rather quickly, unless you are a serious heroin, crack, or coke addict...also private industry benefits because they make you take a drug test if you get hurt at work and will deny any benefits if you fail the test....