Views » September 25, 2008

20 Million Arrests, and Counting

By Paul Armentano

This November, moments before millions of voters flock to the polls to elect America’s 44th president, law enforcement officials will make their 20 millionth marijuana arrest.

Yet in the days leading up to this appalling milestone, it’s unlikely either candidate will call for — or even so much as entertain — any change in U.S. pot policies. It’s even less likely the mainstream media will care.

Since the early ’90s, the total number of Americans busted annually for pot has nearly tripled. In 1991, police arrested a modern low of 288,000 people for minor marijuana violations in the United States, according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report. By 2006 (the last year for which data is available), a record 830,000 people were arrested. (Of those arrested, an estimated 90 percent are charged with minor possession — not trafficking, cultivation or sale.)

That’s one American arrested for pot every 38 seconds.

Yet despite this massive increase in arrests — by contrast, federal statistics indicate that adult marijuana use has remained fairly stable over the past decade — the mass media and Congress continue to ignore the story.

By doing so, they ignore the plight of millions of Americans who suffer significant sanctions and hardships because of pot-related run-ins with law enforcement. These penalties include probation and mandatory drug testing; loss of employment; loss of child custody; removal from subsidized housing; asset forfeiture; loss of student aid; loss of voting privileges; loss of adoption rights; and loss of certain federal welfare benefits, such as food stamps.

Some Americans serve time for pot. Nearly 13 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates are incarcerated for marijuna-related drug violations, according to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report. (The report did not include the estimated percentage of inmates incarcerated in county jails for pot-related offenses.)

In human terms, this means that some 34,000 state inmates and an estimated 11,000 federal inmates are serving time behind bars for violating marijuana laws.

In fiscal terms, this means U.S. taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders.

The front-end criminal justice costs — such as the number of hours a police officer must put in to arrest and process the average pot offender — is far greater. Some researchers, such as Harvard University economist Jeffery Miron, estimate it at upward of $7 billion a year.

But the financial and social costs tell only part of the story.

Up to 70 percent of all individuals in drug treatment for pot are placed there by the criminal justice system, according to statistics published by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In other words, these individuals were ordered by a judge (or a drug court) to attend “rehab” in lieu of jail, or as a requirement of their probation. Of those enrolled in treatment, federal statistics indicate that more than one in three had not even used marijuana in the 30 days prior to their admission.

Yet, disingenuously, the White House argues that these rising admission rates justify the need to continue arresting cannabis users, even though the policy, not the drug, is fueling the surge in drug treatment. At the same time, thousands of Americans seeking — and needing — drug treatment are denied because facilities lack bed space.

Equally troubling yet seldom discussed publicly is the reality that marijuana enforcement disproportionately affects citizens by age. According to data compiled by the FBI, 74 percent of all Americans busted for pot are under 30. One out of four is 18 or younger.

We now have a generation (or two) that is so alienated that many young people believe the police are an instrument of their oppression rather than their protection.

While young people suffer the most under current anti-pot laws, they lack the financial means and political capital to influence politicians to challenge them. They also lack the money to adequately fund the drug law reform movement at a level necessary to represent and protect their interests.

As a result, marijuana arrests continue to climb unabated. And few in the mainstream press — and even fewer lawmakers — feel any sufficient political pressure to address it.

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• Reader Comments

  The drug Czar needs to be held accountable for all the lies he tells. It just isn�t right that he can get away with this.

  Marijuana is not the gateway drug. The prohibition of marijuana is the reason why so many young people are introduced to a criminal society.

  It is a fact that if marijuana was legalized usage would not rise. In fact in countries where marijuana is legal usage is around half of that in our own country.

  Marijuana prohibition causes young people to have disrespect for the law. It is the cause for disrespect to the police.

  Now, 872,000 americans will criminal records. They will have difficulty getting an education because of it. The saddest part of this is that like you read above, 1 out of 4 of these people are under age 18. 3 out of 4 are under ago 30.

  The so called drug warriors say that they don�t want to see marijuana prohibition end because it would be sending the wrong message to kids. They think they are �protecting� them.

  Well then why are all these arrests coming against kids?

  They are not protecting them� they are ARRESTING them!!!

  Wake up congress!!!

  Posted by rayeatts on Sep 25, 2008 at 10:23 PM

  As a medicinal marijuana patient who has been arrested, I know first hand the hurt of our country’s current marijuana laws.

  It’s unfortunate that many people still blindly believe marijuana propaganda without going beyond the DEA’s line of offense to become informed on the reality of marijuana’s benefits.

  Marijuana has dramatically increased the quality of my life. As a college student, who’s suffered from life-long depression and anxiety, marijuana has helped me place things in perspective; placing things in life in a much more logical manner.

  The only negativity I’ve experienced from marijuana consumption was the mental trauma of being unjustly arrested.

  I can only hope for a marijuana accepting world, someday in my lifetime.

  Posted by makerstar on Sep 25, 2008 at 10:29 PM

  The arresting of our youth in such numbers is staggering! I believe the actual prohibition of cannabis is the culprit here. If it was taxed and regulated such as alcohol, then the drug dealers would be out of a job. They don’t care who they sell to. As a matter of fact, I read where there is an estimated 1,000,000 high school student dealers in this country. Why? Kids aren’t dumb and they see that the �mark up” is in the 200-300 percent range while huge profit margins make it impossible to work at Burger King. Not to mention they also have a captive market, five days a week.

  That being said, does anyone think that there are more than a handful of public servants who would stand up to purveyors of this senseless war on people? Not many… but just maybe there are enough voters that can change this futility in the coming years. It has to be fixed. It’s broke.

  The real danger of pot is arrest.

  Posted by Meddy on Sep 25, 2008 at 10:37 PM

  How is it that the pot smoking peace generation of the sixties has elected a war-mongering President and permitted a civil liberties trampling judicial system grow up around it?  It is time we made good on the theme “The times they are a-changin.”  Massachusetts voters need to send a message to the misguided drug loving warriors who are railing so loudly against Question 2.

  Posted by jmalmo on Sep 25, 2008 at 10:38 PM

  It’s ludicrous.  A simple (or not so simple) plant God created banned by man. With so many ways to help people- medicinal, industrial, environmental, agricultural- how is it that this plant has maintained a bad reputation for so long? What is it that drives individuals and organizations to follow faulted information which in turn harms innocent people?

  I encourage all people to take some sort of action against this absurdity whether you post a comment, contribute to an organization, or write the government. If you want something done about this or feel it is wrong, please chip in.

  Posted by goldnchild on Sep 25, 2008 at 11:10 PM

• extended discussion >>>Continued...

  Discussions with more than 5 comments are continued on our special discussion page to encourage continuity and ease of use. There are currently 56 posts.

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