U.S. governments are embroiled in a deadly war abroad and battling the threat of terrorism at home.
But they still found the time and resources last year to arrest an all-time record number of marijuana smokers.
U.S. police arrested an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations in 2005, according to the latest FBI annual Uniform Crime Report
That total is the highest ever recorded. It amounts to one arrest every 40 seconds. Annual marijuana arrests have more than doubled since the early 1990s.
Further, the total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2005 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined -- including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The target of almost all of these arrests are mere users. Approximately 88 percent -- some 696,074 Americans -- were charged with possession only.
And the remaining 90,471 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.
These figures indicate that the War on Drugs is in substantial part a "War on Marijuana Smokers." Indeed, marijuana arrests comprise 42.6 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.
"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."
An arrest, even without imprisonment, can be a devastating and life-wrecking experience.
"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past decade.
"Some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives," St. Pierre noted. (Among them: presidents, congressmen, and Supreme Court justices.) "It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater -- and arguably far fewer -- health risks than alcohol or tobacco."
But they still found the time and resources last year to arrest an all-time record number of marijuana smokers.
U.S. police arrested an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations in 2005, according to the latest FBI annual Uniform Crime Report
That total is the highest ever recorded. It amounts to one arrest every 40 seconds. Annual marijuana arrests have more than doubled since the early 1990s.
Further, the total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2005 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined -- including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The target of almost all of these arrests are mere users. Approximately 88 percent -- some 696,074 Americans -- were charged with possession only.
And the remaining 90,471 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.
These figures indicate that the War on Drugs is in substantial part a "War on Marijuana Smokers." Indeed, marijuana arrests comprise 42.6 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.
"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."
An arrest, even without imprisonment, can be a devastating and life-wrecking experience.
"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past decade.
"Some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives," St. Pierre noted. (Among them: presidents, congressmen, and Supreme Court justices.) "It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater -- and arguably far fewer -- health risks than alcohol or tobacco."
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