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New FBI Report: A Pot Arrest Every 37 Seconds in 2008

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 12:50:02 PM EST
Tags: war in drugs, FBI arrest report (all tags)
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The FBI today released its report (available here) on arrests for 2008. Here's the table (jpg) for all drug arrests. Ryan Grim at Huffington Post has reviewed the report and writes:

Someone is arrested in the United States for a drug-law violation every 18 seconds, an FBI report released Monday shows. More than four-fifths of those arrests were for possession only and nearly half were for possession of marijuana. Of the 847,863 marijuana arrests -- one every 37 seconds -- 89 percent were for possession alone.

We're wasting vast amounts of money busting drug users. No wonder we're going broke and can't afford health insurance. Remember this report (pdf) by a Harvard University economist finding that legalizing and regulating drugs would inject tens of billions a year into the U.S. economy? (Details here.)

Grim notes: "In California, medical marijuana is currently taxed and generates several hundred million dollars per year in revenue for the state treasury."

NORML also crunches the arrest figures.

Marijuana arrests now comprised one-half (49.8 percent) of all drug arrests reported in the United States.

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 754,224 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 93,640 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.

The War on Drugs is an expensive failure.

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    New FBI Report: A Pot Arrest Every 37 Seconds in 2008 | 14 comments (14 topical)

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    Grim, whoever that is, is spreading falsehoods. (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 01:45:01 PM EST
    In March 2009 Time Magazine writes:
    In 1996 California became one of the first states in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. Currently, $200 million in medical-marijuana sales are subject to sales tax.
    $200 million x 6% = $12 million in state taxes, not even close to Grim's fallacious claim that:
    Grim notes: "In California, medical marijuana is currently taxed and generates several hundred million dollars per year in revenue for the state treasury."

    That's all I have time to fact check, I would not depend on any of the other numbers quoted by Grim to be any more accurate.

    maybe he is counting (none / 0) (#8)
    by Capt Howdy on Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 03:04:17 PM EST
    the money they save by not busting people.

    just kidding.  I have seen wildly differing numbers for the amount CA is making because of the pot tax.


    Parent

    The State of CA generally agrees (none / 0) (#10)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 03:14:43 PM EST
    that Grim is way wrong:
    It's estimated that [CA's 2008] $143 million in medical marijuana sales have netted $11.4 million in state and local taxes annually, based on registered businesses, California State Board of Equalization spokeswoman Anita Gore said.


    Parent
    As does (none / 0) (#11)
    by