Marijuana arrests fall to lowest level since 1996
By contrast, the numbers show police have been making more arrests for cocaine and heroin, and for other non-narcotic drugs
The Washington Post (US)
Monday, September 26, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
Arrests for simple marijuana possession in the United States fell to nearly a two-decade low last year, according to new statistics released Monday by the FBI. The number of arrests for marijuana possession in 2015 – 574,641 – is the lowest number since 1996. It represents a 7 percent year-over-year drop, and a 25 percent drop from the peak of close to 800,000 marijuana possession arrests in 2007. In 2010, for instance, marijuana sales and possession together accounted for 52 percent of all drug arrests. By 2015, that number had fallen to 43 percent. Still, the marijuana possession arrest rate works out to more than one arrest every minute.
