Why are Law Enforcement Officials Making More Marijuana Arrests Than Ever?
Law enforcement in many states are making a greater number of marijuana arrests than ever before despite polling data showing that the majority of Americans believe that the adult use of the plant ought to be legal.
According to a just published report, “Marijuana in the States 2012: Analysis and Detailed Data on Marijuana Use and Arrests,” which appears on the newly launched RegulatingCannabis.com website, police made an estimated 750,000 arrests for
marijuana violations in 2012 – a 110 percent increase in annual arrests
since 1991. Yet, despite this doubling in annual marijuana arrests over
the past two decades, there has not been any significant reduction in
marijuana consumption in the United States the report found.
Related Articles:
Your resource for news, research, opinion and comment in the world of Criminology and Criminal Justice, brought to you by the Criminology Library, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
Showing posts with label drug laws. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug laws. Show all posts
Too Many Prisoners
The Justice Department in its recent annual report
on federal sentencing issues wisely acknowledged that public safety can
be maximized without maximizing prison spending. As it noted, the
growing federal prison population, now more than 218,000 inmates, and a
prison budget of almost $6.2 billion are “incompatible with a balanced
crime policy and are unsustainable.”
The department calls for reforms “to make our public safety expenditures
smarter and more productive.” Yet it fails to address sentencing
changes that should be made, which would significantly reduce the
problem of overincarceration in federal prisons.
Last fall, the United States Sentencing Commission issued a comprehensive report
that said mandatory minimum sentences are often “excessively severe,”
especially for people convicted of drug-trafficking offenses, who make
up more than 75 percent of those given such sentences. Mandatory
minimums have contributed in the last 20 years to the near tripling of
federal prisoners, with more than half the prisoners now in for drug
crimes.
This is a New York Times editorial. Tom
New York City Wasting $75 Million a Year on Marijuana Arrests
A new study reveals that since 1996 New York City has spent from half a billion to over a billion dollars arresting people for less than an ounce of marijuana.
In 2010 New York City spent $75 million arresting people for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
Three members of the New York City Council joined advocates and community members on the steps of City Hall today at a press conference organized by the Drug Policy Alliance and the Institute for Juvenile Justice Reform and Alternatives. They announced the release of a new report: "$75 Million A Year - The Cost of New York City's Marijuana Arrests."
The report, written by CUNY Professor Harry Levine and attorney Loren Siegel, shows that since 1996 New York City has spent from half a billion to over a billion dollars arresting people for less than an ounce of marijuana.
Each arrest costs at least $1,000 to $2,000 (conservatively estimated), and in 2010 the NYPD made nearly 1,000 arrests a week. The 50,383 people arrested for marijuana in 2010 were all fingerprinted, photographed, and most spent 24 hours or more in jail. In all cases, marijuana possession was the highest charge or the only charge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)