Record Pot Arrests Highlight Even Bigger Pot Lies

If I had a dime for every time A law enforcement officer claimed that busting petty pot offenders wasn't their priority, then I might have enough loose change to compensate each of the 829,625 Americans arrested for marijuana violations in 2006.

Of course, like most statistics related to the war on drugs, the 2006 arrest data -- released earlier today by the FBI -- raises far more questions than answers.

For instance: If busting minor marijuana offenders -- of those charged with pot violations in 2006, approximately 89 percent (some 738,915 Americans) were charged with possession only -- isn't a law enforcement priority, then why have pot busts increased nearly 200 percent over the past 15 years, increasing from a modern low of 287,850 in 1991 to the all-time record high set last year?

Police will tell you that it's because there's a whole lot more Americans using pot these days. However, America's top drug cop -- US Drug Czar John Walters -- says differently, bragging earlier this month that pot use has been declining for the past five years. (Curiously, pot arrests have increased more than 15 percent during this time.)

Not surprisingly, the Czar is contradicted by his own statistics. Specifically, recently published survey data compiled by the federal Office of Applied Studies (OAS) indicates that the number of reported 'regular' users of pot (defined as having used the drug at least once over a 30-day period) has actually increased slightly -- from 14.6 million users in 2005 to 14.8 million in 2006. (Archived federal survey data indicates that this total has hovered consistently around 14 to 15 million users for most of the past decade.)

Nevertheless, if the overall number of regular pot users has remained stagnant at a mere 14 million or so over the past few years, then just who the hell is making up the 700,000 to 800,000 Americans being arrested each year for smoking weed? After all, if we're to take both the FBI and OAS data at face value, then one could assume that some 8 million Americans -- or more than half of the American pot smoking population -- have been busted over the past ten years!

Or, one can conclude that the federal survey's supposed pot data -- much like the claims of the Drug Czar and local law enforcement -- is most likely just a crock.

Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for NORML and the NORML Foundation. He may be contacted via e-mail at: [e-mail]

Comments

[BluGrrl]

Why does the government spend so much time/money going after harmless pot smokers?

Pot isn't even physically addictive.

Ever heard of someone dieing from smoking too much pot? Me either, so what's the big deal?

I could go into all the ways cocaine, heroin and meth are much worse but instead I think I will ask :

Why is pot illegal but alcohol is legal? How many people die in drunk driving accidents a year? Yet we serve people alcohol with their dinner and send them home driving but scoff at the relaxed pot smoker who stays at home and minds his own business. It's crazy.

Why should narcotic painkillers be legal when pot is not? Pot grows out of the ground, it is smoked in it's natural form. Where other drugs, including the legal drugs, are full of chemicals.

The chemical drugs often cause people to act overtly different than they normally do, sometimes violently and often recklessly. Chemical drugs are physically addictive and very bad for our bodies.

Pot is a natural "drug", people tend to relax and get hungry when they smoke it. But their attitudes rarely change and they go back to work the next day. It is even more rare to hear of someone smoking pot and becoming violent, or reckless.

So why does the government spend so much time harassing people that are basically harmless when there are so many others that pose an actual threat? Doesn't the government have something better to do?

[BluGrrl]

and not to mention all the practical uses of hemp...

[chinohillster]

California and other states are suffering from CHRONIC budget shortfalls - make marijuana LEGAL, and TAX it like liquor - then there'd ACTUALLY be some money for, say, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MASS TRANSIT, INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR!

What a concept!

And, there'd be economies in law enforcement from all the police not having to arrest pot users and all the jail/prison space not having to be used to house them!

[wishing4commonsense]

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY 2008
Single issue voting made easy (legalizing marijuana and industrial hemp):
Dennis Kucinich (Dem)
or
Ron Paul (Rep)
If you could live with any of your party's choices for president, why not vote for the one who will stand up for YOU? If nothing else, it will at least give the front runners a clue about the size of our voting bloc.

[pxs1]

It is my opinion the statistics are skewed. 14 million with nearly 900 thousand busts, most possession. Pleeeze.... spare me. Does anyone in their right mind believe this? That would mean one out of every 15 people who smoke pot have been busted. Many of us know people who indulge. How many know people who have been busted for this victimless crime? The drug laws are draconian.

[wishing4commonsense]

I got busted in 1986 for a roach the size of your little fingernail. It is a "collar" of opportunity, and a chance to shake Joe Schmo down for $200 for a pre-trial diversion.

[jhNY]

There is presently a prison industry, made up of suppliers of products and services to prisons, contractors of prison labor, and private prison owners, which has a grip on the doings of politicians they help to be elected with campaign contributions. One article I read stated that the prison industry expected a growth rate of 10% in the prison population for the decade. Now perhaps you understand why the marijuana offender is in such danger. He's part of a growth rate for prison industry, and needed for its projected profitability. Corporate fascism: what could go wrong?

[realitytrumpsbull]

Hey now, if you're gonna build a mega-mega runaway multi-billion-dollar, publicly unaccountable police state, you need a plausible
pretext to invoke your authority and deploy
your carte blanche uber-citizen copnazis.
Or, or, if they were REALLY serious about winning the 'war on drugs', they'd actually do
something honest and effective at the US/Mexico
border, and prevent the dope from being shipped
in to begin with...but, you know how government
peeps can be, never saw a federal program
they didn't like, and if they can slather on
ANOTHER billion, hey, that's more money for
the new addition onto the house...

[Spookcatcher]

It is way past time for every town and city to organize citizen based law enforcement commissions. I have been involved in many private investigations of law enforcement officers and EVERY municipality in the 3.5 million population where I live has corrupted, criminal, and dangerous officers. In some instances, there were literally teams of Officers that intimidated, set-up various citizens for blackmail, profiled, one department ran a theft ring, and several got caught playing with the little high school girls in local ride-a-long program. There are plenty of Cop Bars and they should be surveilled 24 hours. If they were responsible for their habits we could begin a quick pushback. Also, the prolific steriod use in departments is out of control. It needs to be stopped. The time is getting real short as cameras are being put up all across the nation to watch and control our movements as "Free Citizens(?) but who watches the watchers? The real problem is going to be compunded exponentially when Iraq soldiers (disgruntled) trained and desensitised by urban warfare, and Blackwater and other contracter goons come home and are immediately grabbed up into law enforcement jobs. Camera mounted citizen "tails" on our police, and equal information on them and their activities is now mandatory. Equal opportunity under the Law!

[ThomasDoubting]

There are certain issues that presidential candidates are not allowed to speak about.One of those issues is pot. Their Corporate Sponsors wil not let them say anything good about it, and the voters will not let them say anything bad about it. The great majority of the voters really don't give a shit, if their neighbor is smoking shit. In fact most people consider the War On Drugs a joke, until they or someone close to them, are targeted. A huge percentage of the 850,000 arrested were chosen, before a crime was committed. These "crimes" only occur when a police officer poses as a buyer or a seller and sets up the pigeon. The War On Drugs benefits no one,except the Phamicuetical Industry, The Prison Industry, The Insurance Industry, and Oh Yeah they sell the drugs too, after seizing them from the other thousands, who were not arrested. It is going to be difficult to get these people to stop doing, what they are doing. I think they got a pretty good deal just the way it is. Some of this pot is sold multiple times. It's hard to guess the amount of money (real cash money) that runs through this system. It must be costing us a fortune to arrest 850,000 people a year, I wonder if it would be enough, to set up a program to provide real JOBS

[NoFactsJustTruth]

LOBBIES are keeping weed illegal;

...the pharmaceutical, textile, wood-pulp, and petroleum industries find willing CONgress-persons to bribe, and ostrich-like sheeples to befuddle.

OUR hypocritical society continues to discriminate against the least of us, AND call itself a 'christian' nation.

It was told by many that 'HE' hated hypocrites...

[freespeach]

Hypocrites....like our military?

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=2712

If you sign up to kill people in Iraq, all is forgiven.

[flatus]

Drug dealers around the world prasie the DEA's efforts in keeping the prices artificially high. Certainly worth the half trillion spent so far.

Of course, the downside is that higher prices,by definiton, means more crime.

Ah well, it was almost a win-win.

[1fliteup]

It all started with proabition, when they declared booze illegal they lumped hemp in with it, they just didn't unlump it at the end of that ridiculous law. So it has kept a whole of law enforcement employed, and a whole lot more good people in jail.

[joebhed]

The war on drugs, and pot in particular, is clearly a misnomer.
After all, its not really the marijuana that they fear and are trying to wipe out.
Its what you're thinking.
Its your thoughts that are illegal.
It should be called the war on free minds.
If potato skins gave you a buzz, they would soon be illegal.
Marijuana, the weed, has nothing to do with it really.
If marijuana didn't free your thoughts, then you could grow and own tons of the stuff.
But there is a war against free thought going on, and it has been for many decades.
That's why I don't smoke any more.
What's the point in having free thoughts if this freedom puts your life at risk?
Last year alone, some 739,915 otherwise ordinary Americans let their pursuit of free thoughts, some might call it "happiness", cause them a great loss on that risk/reward scale.
Is it any wonder that otherwise ordinary Americans lose faith every year in our society? We have our priorities so screwed up that the majority can barely get by while being strung out on a score of legal, and profitable drugs. Meantime, we lock up three-quarters of a million of our brothers, sisters, moms and dads for daring to think whatever they want.
We may just need to change that old song:
"Yes, you do go to jail for what you're thinking" in the good ole USA.
Here's to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

[drblack]

ALL drugs should be freely available.
The damage done to society by drugs is 99% because they are illegal.
Video games are a much bigger addiction problem among teens then drugs are.
Until the Black market is entirely eliminated by complete repeal of Prohibition we will continue to have more murder, guns, gangs, corrupt politicians and police, unhappy prostitutes etc.
End the Violence now and End Drug Prohibition NOW.

[freespeach]

It would be interesting to see how the numbers on right wing vs. left wing break down amongst pot smokers. My guess would be 85% left wing to 15% red neck amongst puffers.

Free thinkers, bohemians, and tolerant types are typical pot smokers.

So it makes perfect sense that Bush and his Christian extremists are declaring war on pot.

What a sad state of affairs.

[peacepipe]

Marijuana is less of a health hazard than tobacco or alcohol, but it's still a crime. Legalizing it would raise government revenue and free up law enforcement to work on real crime. Yet none of the Presidential candidates have anything to say about it. When will the politicians catch up with the public? It's time for a change!

[1fliteup]

Oh my God, its reefer madness. And we elect politicians that get old and die in office totally cloistered from the average every-day folk. They still believe in "Reefer Madness" but they can still put you away for it, stupid huh??