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# US Marijuana Policies Lead to Hundreds of Thousands of Arrests a Year
- URL: https://ivn.us/us-marijuana-policies-lead-to-hundred-of-thousands-of-arrests-a-year/
- Published: 2013-05-30T19:00:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:39:32.000Z
- Author: Lucas Eaves
- Tags: News

Despite being the most commonly used drug in the United States, with over 100 million Americans admitting to trying marijuana a least once, marijuana laws affect hundreds of thousands of people negatively every year.

In 2009, 858,000 people were arrested for marijuana-related offenses and in 88 percent of these arrests, the culprit was charged with possession only. In 2011, half of the 1.5 million arrests for drug-related offenses were for marijuana.

Not only are current marijuana policies affecting the hundreds of thousands of Americans who use marijuana, but these policies are costing an estimated $10 billion per year to the American taxpayers.

At a time when federal and state governments are cutting their budgets, should we reconsider marijuana policies?

The following infographic was provided by [MacGregor & Collins, LLP](http://www.cmcdefense.com/?ref=ivn.us). Credit: MacGregor & Collins, LLP

[![US marijuana policies](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/02/US-marijuana-policies.jpg "US marijuana policies")](https://ivn.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/US-marijuana-policies.jpg)