Skip to content

US Marijuana Policies Lead to Hundreds of Thousands of Arrests a Year

US Marijuana Policies Lead to Hundreds of Thousands of Arrests a Year
Published:

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. Credit: MacGregor & Collins, LLP

US marijuana policies

Lucas Eaves

French traveler on a journey to understand the arcane of American politics while enjoying life in San Diego.

IVN is rated Center by AllSides and High Credibility by MBFC — follow our independent journalism in your feed.

Add IVN on Google

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.