Marijuana
Arrests in the United States (2007)
A Special Report in the
November, 2009 edition of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform
This report provides an overview to a vast amount of data
reported in the Marijuana
Policy Almanac, available at http://www.drugscience.org/States/US/US_home.htm.
This almanac provides the largest collection of detailed
data about marijuana arrests in the United States ever released
to the public. It contains detailed data at the national,
state, county, and local agency level about marijuana arrests
and related topics, such as marijuana use, criminal justice
costs, and clearance rates for serious crimes. The Marijuana
Policy Almanac also contains individual summary reports
for each state, and rankings of states by penalties for marijuana
possession, marijuana arrest rates, and the number of marijuana
users.
These data shed some light on the growing national and regional
debate over whether marijuana prohibition is a policy that
effectively delivers benefits that justify its human or fiscal
cost.
Specific findings include the following:
1) Nationally, there is little apparent relationship between
increasing marijuana arrests and rates of use.
2) There are wide disparities between states in both marijuana
arrest rates and the severity of penalties. These differences
bear little relationship to rates of use, while the penalty
structure actually serves as a price support for the illicit
market.
3) Young people and African-Americans are disproportionately
affected by marijuana arrests.
4) The costs of arresting marijuana users are substantial,
and raise serious questions about the cost effectiveness
of marijuana prohibition.
Marijuana
Arrests in Massachusetts
A Special Report in the October, 2008 issue of the Bulletin
of Cannabis Reform
This report reviews data on marijuana
arrests in Massachusetts at the state, countly, and
local levels. Also examined are data on marijuana and
other drug use, marijuana-related drug treatment admissions
referred by the criminal justice system, criminal justice
system costs, and clearance levels for serious crimes
in Massachusetts. The appendix of the report provides
detailed data on marijuana arrests by local police agencies
in Massachusetts. In 2006 there were 9,124 arrests for
marijuana-related offenses in Massachusetts. Of these,
or 86% were for possession (7,857), the rest were for
sales (1,267). Marijuana arrests have been increasing
over the last several years, for example arrests averaged
8,986 during the preceding three years. Marijuana arrests
in the United States increased 3% annually from 1994
to 2005. In Massachusetts marijuana arrests decreased
by 3.5% per year during this same period.
Marijuana
Use in the United States
Marijuana Treatment Admissions in the United States
Special Reports in the September, 2008 issue
of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform
The Bush Administration has failed to reduce or control
marijuana use in the United States. Marginal changes
in marijuana and other drug use have been distorted
to support false claims that incremental progress in
reducing marijuana and other drug use has been achieved.
Marijuana use is fundamentally the same as when the
Bush Administration took office and illicit drug use
overall has increased. Drug use data do not support
Bush Administration claims that its policies have had
a significant impact on illicit drug use in the United
States.
Lost
Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws
A Special Report in the October, 2007 issue of the Bulletin
of Cannabis Reform
Government reports from the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, the Library of Congress, and other sources
indicate that the supply of marijuana in the United
States is 14,349 metric tons, or 31.1 million pounds.
Various price indexes from public and private sources
produce a retail price of $7.87/gr or $3,570/lb, setting
the overall retail value of the illicit marijuana market
at $113 billion. Government reports indicate that the
nation's marijuana laws cost taxpayers $41.8 billion
annually.The Office of Management and Budget reports
that local, state, and the federal government receipts
represent 28.7% of the gross domestic product as tax
revenue. The diversion of $113 billion from the taxable
economy into the illicit economy deprives taxpayers
of $31.1 billion annually. Marijuana arrests cost taxpayers
$10.7 billion annually. Read the full report of the
tremendous annual cost of marijuana prohibition in the
lcurrent issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform
In the March, 2007
Issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform
Read about political strategies for the end of prohibition
in the latest issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform.
Topics include Cannabis Policy Reform in the United
States, Lesson Learned from Proposition 2 in Alaska,
and Medical Cannabis and the Public Policy Process.
Also,this issue contains reports on three interesting
legal cases involving cannabis reform. Read about the
legal argument in favor of the sacramental use of cannabis,
success in persuading an administrative law judge to
endorse efforts to secure a legal source for cannabis
for medical research, and attempts to get the federal
government to recognize the accepted medical use of
cannabis based on the Data Quality Act. A landmark 1986
column by Arnold Trebach provides an important historical
perspective on the fight for medical cannabis, and additional
history about hemp cultivation in the United States
following World War II is the subject of the final article
in the third issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform.
Medical Marijuana
The Cannabis Rescheduling
Petition provides the detailed scientific and legal
argument why US law requires the federal government
to provide regulated access to marijuana for medical
purposes. The Bulletin of Cannabis
Reform provides a critical focus on both US marijuana
laws and the efforts to reform them. Both the Rescheduling
Petition and the Bulletin are part of the DrugScience.org
effort to increase informed participation in the public
policy process by advocates of marijuana law reform.
Marijuana Production
in the United States (2006)
A Special Report in December
2006 issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform
The most recent and compelling report on US marijuana
production reveals that not only is cannabis now the
largest cash crop in the United States, but also that
according to US Government data domestic marijuana cultivation
has grown ten-fold over the last 25 years. This new
report on marijuana production was recently published
in the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform and distributed to
the national media by the Marijuana Policy Project.
In 2006 domestic marijuana cultivation was worth $35.8
billion, more than corn and wheat combined. Over 56
million marijuana plants were cultivated outdoors with
a value of $31.7 billion and 11.7 million plants were
cultivated indoors at a value of $4.1 billion.
In the First Issue of the Bulletin of Cannabis
Reform
The premier
issue of the Bulletin features a poignant tribute
to Bob Randall, the first patient to receive legal cannabis
from the United States in modern times, by Alice O’Leary,
co-founder of the groundbreaking Alliance for Cannabis
Therapeutics (ACT). This inspiring story should be of
interest to every medical cannabis patient in the United
States. BCR is also proud to publish an excerpt from
the new book by Arnold Trebach, founder of the Drug
Policy Foundation, Fatal Distraction, the War on Drugs
in the Age of Islamic Terrorism. Additional features
include a detailed analysis of the Roll Call vote in
the House of Representatives on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher
medical cannabis amendment, including detailed maps
of voting by Congressional Districts. This issue also
includes the BCR Guide to State Legislative and Congressional
Districts and Maps, a comprehensive source on local
districting information for voters, students, and political
organizers.
Elsewhere on the Web
Recent Research on Medical Marijuana: Emerging Clinical
Applications For Cannabis & Cannabinoids
A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 —
2006. This new
report by NORML's Paul Armentano is an excellent
update of scientific research on marijuana's medical
value.
The Cannabis
Rescheduling Petition
This petition seeks to provide medical access to cannabis
under current US law. The 2002 Cannabis Rescheduling Petition
contains a detailed summary of the scientific and medical
findings in the late 1990s that support the medical use
of cannabis(marijuana) in the United States. The 2002 petition
was written by Jon Gettman, Franjo Grotenherman, and Gero
Leson and filed with the Drug Enforcement
Administration on October 9, 2002 by the Coalition for Rescheduling
Cannabis.
The Coalition for Rescheduling
Cannabis
The Coalition was formed for the purpose of filing the
Cannabis Rescheduling Petition and representing the interests
of medical cannabis patients in related federal administrative
and judicial proceedings. The sponsor of the rescheduling
petition. The member organizations of the Coalition for
Rescheduling Cannabis are also excellent sources for more
information about the medical marijuana issue
The Bulletin of Cannabis
Reform
The premier issue of the Bulletin features a poignant
tribute to Bob Randall, the first patient to receive
legal cannabis from the United States in modern times,
by Alice O’Leary, co-founder of the groundbreaking
Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics (ACT). This inspiring
story should be of interest to every medical cannabis
patient in the United States. BCR is also proud to publish
an excerpt from the new book by Arnold Trebach, founder
of the Drug Policy Foundation, Fatal Distraction, the
War on Drugs in the Age of Islamic Terrorism. Additional
features include a detailed analysis of the Roll Call
vote in the House of Representatives on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher
medical cannabis amendment, including detailed maps
of voting by Congressional Districts. This issue also
includes the BCR Guide to State Legislative and Congressional
Districts and Maps, a comprehensive source on local
districting information for voters, students, and political
organizers.
Reference
Materials for the Medical Cannabis Issue
Our library contains supporting documents for both the 2002
Cannabis Rescheduling Petition and earlier rescheduling
efforts. These documents summarize a great deal of scientific
material about
cannabis from the 1980s and 1990s. |
