NORMLizer - THE PUBLIC PRICE TAG
Untold billions are squandered prosecuting pot crimes.
Sat, Apr 26, 2008 8:04 pm
According to the latest figures from the FBI, 739,000 American citizens were arrested in 2006 for possessing small amounts of pot. Another 91,000 were charged with marijuana-related felonies.
That’s the highest annual total ever recorded—nearly double the number of citizens busted for pot 15 years ago. Those arrested face a multitude of consequences, which are determined primarily by where they live. Most Californians charged with violating possession laws face little more than a small fine. By contrast, getting busted with a pinch of weed in Ohio will cost you your driver’s license for at least six months.
Move to Texas and you’re looking at a criminal record and up to 180 days in jail. If you’re a first-time offender, you may receive court-mandated “drug rehab” (one recent study found that nearly 70 percent of adults in the state’s drug-treatment programs were referred by courts for smoking weed), probation and, of course, a hefty legal bill.
Don’t even think about getting busted in Oklahoma: A first-time conviction for minor possession can net you up to a year in jail—and up to 10 if you’re found guilty of a second offense. Growing your own may cost you a $20,000 fine and anywhere from two years to life in prison. You read that right: life in prison.
Not everyone busted for weed receives a jail sentence. But that doesn’t mean they don’t suffer significant hardships stemming from their arrest—including (but not limited to) probation and mandatory drug testing, loss of employment, loss of child custody, removal from subsidized housing, asset forfeiture, loss of student aid, loss of voting privileges, and the loss of certain federal welfare benefits such as food stamps.
And some offenders do serve prison time. In fact, according to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are there for marijuana-related offenses. In human terms, this means there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for violating marijuana laws. (The report failed to include numbers for the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county jails.)
Taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders. Yet this price tag only estimates the financial costs on the “back end” of a marijuana arrest. The criminal-justice costs to taxpayers on the “front end”—such as the man-hours it takes a police officer to arrest and process the average pot offender—are far greater. Some economists estimate the financial burden to be upwards of $7 billion a year. Naturally, as the annual number of pot arrests continues to increase (according to the latest FBI data, marijuana arrests now constitute 44 percent of all illicit-drug arrests), these costs will only grow larger.
Since 1990, law enforcement has arrested over 10 million Americans on pot charges. Yet, according to federal figures, marijuana production and use are both rising. Must we wait until another 10 million citizens are arrested before our state and federal politicians find the courage to address this crisis?
-Paul Armentano, Deputy Director for NORML
Visit norml.org or call (888) 67-NORML
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gstlab3
Sep 15 2008, 9:28 pm
Olde Thymer
Aug 2 2008, 8:24 am
I think it strange that most of the activists that I knew in my twenties have become the enforcers in the STATE house. Poltroons all. Evidently they fell to the enemy. Now they gather in city halls to do coke in the mens room.
The only place to find relief is in the courts by challenging standing. No victim, no corpus delicti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL70LQPHiQA
This video is about traffic tickets (another victimless crime) but worth watching. The precepts are the same.
Namaste
NON-TOKER
May 2 2008, 11:19 pm
Our constitution is little more than a piece of paper, or a paper machine. I totally agree that most laws are not fair, nor do they actually prevent crimes, or hold any logic or equilibrium of today’s society. I feel any person, or any biological living organism, is far greater than any non-living object. The paper machine definitely favors those with large assets, corporations and politicians, and discriminates against those who are actually hindered and suffering, the people.
I’m not totally against marijuana legalization, but, I don’t think we would benefit from the government profiting from Marijuana taxes, since most domestic tax dollars are spent grossly misrepresenting and imprisoning the same tax payers. I’m glad it’s not, but, if marijuana was a legalized product, such as petroleum fuel products, there would be a billion dollar industry, and the public perception of the substance would create greater acceptance and a higher demand, thus increasing the price, control, and thus taxation.
If it were to be legal, I feel it should be up to the local authority to determine, and not the federal government to enforce a failed drug policy. Obviously, this policy is too broad, like determining the color red to be immoral or illegal, and all colors of red to be removed from society and violators prosecuted. I think products or substances, such as Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear Energy, and Marijuana should be controlled, not eliminated, only because there are benefits, but, they can also be abused like any other source of enjoyment or sustenance.
One of the reasons why I don’t live in China or Russia is, because I don’t enjoy Totalitarian leaderships, and it seems like the paper machine needs to update, or lose a few pages.
Hmmm, I can relate, and, we all would benefit by updating the paper machine every generation or so.
smokey
May 2 2008, 9:43 am
hmmm
Apr 29 2008, 6:35 pm
THIS SHIT HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH. PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT THINK ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VOTE FORGET IT'S BEEN 70 YEARS OF A PROHIBITION TO STOP PEOPLE FROM THINKING FREELY. IT'S NOT ABOUT POT, IT'S OUR PERSONAL FREEDOMS THAT WE SEE GOING DOWN THE TOILET. IT'S TIME WE THROW THE TEA OVERBOARD!
Lastly, you don't even know what we are doing. You have no clue that our nation is almost "overgrown". We not waiting another 70 years for our idiot representitives wake up, now's the time.
NON-TOKER
Apr 28 2008, 6:59 pm
As long as millions of people are being incarcerated for moral judgments, instead of scientific evidence, innocent people are faced with disparity. It's not the legal system that's not working; the legal system is almost too convincing and overly efficient, and even grossly unfair. Basically, I think our nation has a lot of room for improvement. So, investigate, learn, and vote for the best candidate to improve and update our archaic laws.
Also: Sorry, this may be too logical, but, one way to protest is to not to toke, or at least cut down, thus, removing the government's job to investigate, and incarcerate, and to remove the burden of the tax payer, or at least until the laws are passed.
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