Marijuana arrests accounted for more than half of all U.S. drug arrests in 2009, while its use among Americans increased by 8 percent, according to two reports released this week by government officials.
According to the FBI’s 2009 Uniform Crime Report released yesterday, U.S. law enforcement made 858,408 arrests on marijuana charges — 88 percent of which were for possession, not sale or manufacture. Marijuana arrests peaked in 2007 at more than 872,000, and witnessed a slight dip in 2008 at 847,863.
In 2009, an American was arrested on marijuana charges every 37 seconds.
Meanwhile, an annual report released today by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 16.7 million Americans had used marijuana in the past month.
“It’s now more obvious than ever that decades of law enforcement efforts have absolutely failed to reduce marijuana’s use or availability, and that it’s simply an exercise in futility to continue arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans for using something that’s safer than alcohol,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “Rather than criminalize millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens and waste billions of dollars that could be better spent combating violent crime and other real threats to public safety, it’s time we embrace sensible marijuana policies that would regulate marijuana the same way we do alcohol or tobacco.”
Comments
Really? The propaganda ALL OVER THE USA and the WORLD has been:
1. Marijuana is safe.
2. Marijuana is medicine.
3. Marijuana is not addictive.
Everyday, this is being brainwashed into people's minds and children's mind by pot users and pot pushers through medical marijuana programs and prop 19. What do you think will happen if there is that propaganda with the above? Pot use will INCREASE. It does not take a monkey to figure this out. Alcohol and cigarettes HAVE MANY MANY health warnings and strict laws so their use would go down. The USA peeps are so dopey.
One really is challenged to understand your point, if your point is that the three "propaganda" statements are false then it is obvious that you are ignorant of the facts.
Here is a quick easy test.Make a list of ALL of the recreational drugs, from Alcohol to Zoloff (or some other prescription drug starting with Z?) under each list ALL of the negative health effects for that particular drug, THEN cover up the drug names and ask ANYONE to choose which one is safest.... So why are we fighting a war against Cannabis ?
zyrtec
With all due respect you are missing point. Do you really believe that a person should be tried as a criminal for smoking pot? Weed is here to stay people over 21 deserve the right to choose for themselves. Oh and btw YES it is NOT addictive 2 there are numerous studies proving medical benefits of pot! Do the research before you preach and finally the argument is that weed is safer than alcohol not safe! Marijuana has NEVER killed a person!
With all due respect you are missing point. Do you really believe that a person should be tried as a criminal for smoking pot? Weed is here to stay people over 21 deserve the right to choose for themselves. Oh and btw YES it is NOT addictive 2 there are numerous studies proving medical benefits of pot! Do the research before you preach and finally the argument is that weed is safer than alcohol not safe! Marijuana has NEVER killed a person!
" Alcohol and cigarettes HAVE MANY MANY health warnings and strict laws so their use would go down. The USA peeps are so dopey."
Just wanted to point out that cannabis would have appropriate health warnings and restrictions if it were to become legal.
It's easier for kids to buy pot than booze because of prohibition. Do you really want to keep it that way?
If an increase in cannabis use coincides with a decrease in alcohol use then Americans are making the healthier choice. I hope they continue to make the healthier choice and that some day they are no longer arrested, jailed and prosecuted for making that logical choice.
LEGALIZE IT!!!!!
Oh wait., medical marijuana did not treat all my pain and ailments. I want MEDICAL COCAINE. MEDICAL COCAINE cured all the pain and suffering I had with my illness. It really saved my life and I am able to eat well and have become a happy person. It was the only drug that treated my pain, nausea, and lack of appetite. Cocaine comes from a natural plant called COCA so it is from nature. Medical cocaine is safe and it is not addictive. It is safer than alcohol and cigarettes. I want my medical cocaine. Let's LEGALIZE MEDICAL COCAINE.
If that is the way you feel , then go for it !!! Although I doubt that you will get too many followers, as most intelligent people know the difference between Cannabis and Cocaine, but HEY, KNOCK YOURSELF OUT.
I would not object to you using cocaine. You fail in the point you are your attempting to make. Cocaine is highly addictive and has many negative health effects. It most certainly will not help with nausea.
What you seem to imply is that the claims made concerning marijuana are no more valid than anything you could make up on the fly. But that is false and there is plenty of evidence to support the claims made concerning marijuana.
What you're trying to say is that the medical pot argument is a slippery slope that would lead to - oh the horror! legal cocaine. My view is that you should be able to do cocaine if you so desire. It's a matter of freedom. And if it were a legal product, It would be a lot safer. I've done coca leaves in Peru. It's like coffee without the jitters.
"Marijuana has NEVER killed a person!"
THAT IS A LIE!!!!! LIES!!! LIES!!! LIES!!!!
There are a LOT of suicide cases due to marijuana!!!!
There are a LOT of deaths committed by stoners driving under the influence because they were intoxicated with marijuana!!!
STOP THE LIES!!!!!
NUTJOB.
I'm gonna throw the old "Why is alcohol legal??" at you. If you paid any attention, you would know that:
1. It would still be against the law to drive under the influence
2. Prohibition simply does not work. It has done so much more harm than good.
You can't pass a law based upon lies, racial prejudice, and economic greed and not expect problems. The racial prejudice is well documented in the congressional record of that time in the passage of the marijuana tax act. The economic greed of those who supported the federal law came from their desire to deforest our planet and to polute our planet through the use of petroleum products, rather than to use hemp as a natural solution. They succeeded and you support them. Thanks for the dioxin that polutes our streams from chemicals used to whiten wood fiber for paper. Thanks for the gulf oil spill.
Rather than to cause suicide, marijuana functions as an antidepressant and typically leaves people who were depressed laughing and joking. It does this without the side effects associated with many depression medications and without causing suicidal ideation as has been reported for Zoloft.
People who smoke marijuana are well aware of their impairment and if they choose to drive they typically drive very slowly. People with a few drinks, however, beleive they are "bullet proof" and drive rapidly. The guy going 45mph through your neighborhood is probably drunk. The one that smoked marijuana is likely to be going 10 mph while brushing the Cheetos off his t-shirt.
If you can find any university study or government report regarding the death of any marijuana user from overdose, let us know, we'll make you famous.
Otherwise, take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth so that you cannot speak. Perhaps you will learn something.
People have killed themselves due to comments they have received on social networking sites or because they heard some message in a song. Unless you have proof that there is a significant rise in suicides due to marijuana use then that is a poor reason to prohibit marijuana.
As far as dui's... I am sure it has contributed to SOME traffic fatalities. A lot? No. But again, some mundane things can and do contribute to traffic fatalities. I guarantee, that eating a big meal (makes you sluggish and groggy) leads to many traffic fatalities.
In both cases your attempt to find a rational justification for state action, if used consistently, would lead to numerous absurdities.
do some research on the history of cocaine before you make comparisons please! Thanks
hmmm committing suicide because of marijuana thats classy! depression is why people commit suicide not because they smoked a joint! and no there is not one death solely attributed to marijuana, you cannot overdose on weed! that is a fact! as am matter of fact marijuana can treat depression, anxiety, etc. humans have used this plant for thousands of years as medicine. whens the last driving accident you've heard of caused by a stoned driver? find one post a link! bet you cant. google "Marijuana driving studies" there is no evidence(unlike alcohol) that marijuana impairs driving, studies show that when "high" the driver goes slower thats all! sadly you are uneducated and make yourself look foolish comparing cocaine to pot. had a red bull lately? its one of the closest chem compounds to cocaine thats legal! the caffeine in your coffee is more dangerous and the true "gateway" drug. i want you to name one personal experience where pot has negatively affected you!
do you even know why pot was criminalized in the first place? yea lets keep things the way they are so it is easier for your kids to score a joint than get some booze! lets keep the thugs selling pot to anyone with cash! its a safe bet that you work for big alcohol or maybe pfizer.... in 2009 roughly 850,000 people were charged with marijuana offenses, of that 88% were simply possession. and that number is climbing. the war on drugs is a waste of time and money, prohibition has failed once again, history does repeat itself!
MEXICO needs to legalize marijuana NOW. All the other states are legalizing medical marijuana. Forget social responsibility, get that MONEY from the US sales. Mexico should farm the marijuana and legally export that to the USA to feed the pot addicts there. There is a LOT of money to be made from American's dependency on POT. A lot of jobs for Mexicans cultivating pot, therefore MEXICO needs to get in this game. Mexico can legalize POT sales to outside of Mexico and make pot use within their country still illegal. All that country has to do is FEED the USA with pot. That is all the matters. MONEY coming in to their country. Mexico should legalize POT NOW. No waiting and arguing. Mexico should legalize cultivation of pot for export now.
I don't understand your point. One of the major benefits to ending prohibiton of marijuana is to disrupt the profits of the drug cartels currently running the drug trade. By spending billions of dollars a year the people of California are clearly saying that they are going to smoke weed. It is about supply and demand it's obvious there is a demand so by prohibiting a legal supply you are simply making it an extremely lucrative business for the cartels. Legalize marijuana and people will happily buy California grown violence free weed, order their takeout and have a relaxing Friday night. Adults are adults and most who smoke do not have an addiction and continue to live their productive lives while remembering to take the time to enjoy it :-)
P.s I only use California as my example bc they are a border state considering legalizing the personal use of
marijuana. Maybe since this article is more general i should have said " in the states"
Not only should weed be made legal, it should not be taxed. Let the marijuana market function like any other private business. How ya like them apples?
*puff puff*
Mmm, apples.
We need less government dictating how we live our lives. If we are so intent on making otherwise good people into criminals, we will fragment families disrupt family income causing more crime. We need to focus our resources and use 1/3 of the money we currently spend on fighting our war on drugs and put it into preventative and rehab type programs where the success rate is greater for the dollars spent. This is only one of the area's that we the people are allowing our Gov. to rule the way we want to live. Tyranny is when the people are afraid of the government. Liberty is when the Government is afraid of the people. Let your vote this November count, VOTE them ALL out and Get some new blood in our 545 dictators in congress!!!!
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