Friday, March 29, 2024

Federal Arrests For Marijuana Have Declined As More States Legalize It

Several factors generated a decrease in arrests, including the pandemic, which drove an 81% decline in arrests and a 77% decline in the cases charged from March to April 2020.

By Joana Scopel

The U.S. Department of Justice reported that federal marijuana arrests continue to decline as more states move to legalize cannabis.

Cannabis busts dropped an average of 11% each year since 2010 when the DEA made 8,215 arrests, reported Marijuana Moment.

arrest
Photo by Kindel Media via Pexels

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, several factors generated a decrease in arrests, including the coronavirus pandemic which drove an “81% decline in arrests and a 77% decline in the cases charged from March to April 2020.”

Furthermore, the federal U.S. Sentencing Commission (USCC), a bipartisan, independent agency located in the judicial branch of government, released a report in March, which found that federal prosecutions over marijuana dropped in 2021, with fewer than 1,000 people charged with cannabis trafficking cases.

Marijuana Reforms Reduce Racial Injustice

study published by the American Medical Association in November 2021, revealed that states with legalized or decriminalized cannabis have seen large reductions in race-based arrests among adults.

RELATED: Drug Incarceration Rates Are Dropping, But Police Continue To Make Arrests

Researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School and Saint Louis University analyzed data from 43 states and recognized a specific pattern indicating that removing or loosening laws around marijuana is connected to notable decreases in arrest rates compared to states that have kept cannabis illegal.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.

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