up more people for marijuana than the individual prison populations of 8 european countries. 

                                                                        
Washington, DC—According to a new report from the Justice Policy Institute, data shows little relationship between growing arrest rates for marijuana offenses and the drug’s use rate, despite it surpassing heroin and cocaine as leading category of drug arrest since the mid-1990s.

In Efficacy and Impact: The Criminal Justice Response to Marijuana Policy in the United States, the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) measured the effectiveness and consequences of national drug control policies that have resulted in the U.S. spending 300 times what it did 35 years ago on drug control. Criminal justice responses to marijuana - including law enforcement, judicial and corrections-accounted for $5.1 billion in 2000, according to Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron. Despite this increase in spending on drug control from $65 million to currently $19 billion, and the imprisonment of 30,000 people for a marijuana offense, marijuana usage has remained relatively unchanged regardless of arrest rates going up or down.

“Despite billions in new spending and hundreds of thousands of new arrests, marijuana use seems to be unaffected by the huge criminal justice response to this drug,” said Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of JPI, and co-author of the report. According to Ziedenberg, as law enforcement focuses marijuana, a significant number of people are suffering from the impact of policies that do not seem to be deterring drug use.

The report shows that throughout the past 20 years, marijuana usage has remained relatively stable, except for a dramatic drop of 61 percent during the eighties, when arrest rates declined 24 percent. When arrest rates increased 127 percent during the 1990’s, the rate of usage remained stable climbing only 22 percent.

In North Carolina and South Dakota marijuana arrests constituted 74 percent of all drug arrests. In 7 out of 10 states marijuana arrests make up over half of all drug arrests and in almost 3 out of 10 states marijuana arrests make up almost 60 percent of all drug arrests. The U.S. locks up more people for marijuana than the individual prison populations of 8 of the 10 European Union nations—and locks up more people for marijuana than the prison populations of the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Portugal.

According to Jason Colburn, policy analyst at JPI and the report’s co-author, the U.S. drug policy is not only having very little effect on marijuana usage, but it also imposes hefty collateral consequences on those being locked up for marijuana use.

“There are 13 million people with former felony convictions in the U.S., and thousands of people have been convicted of a felony offense involving marijuana. The collateral consequences they will face will not only impact them but their families and entire communities,” said Colburn.

“Depending on what state they live in, they may be denied public assistance, face substantial barriers to employment, experience drivers’ license suspension, and lose the right to vote. Our criminal justice response to marijuana is impacting their ability to take care of their families or contribute as normal taxpaying citizens,” added Colburn.


Key state findings from the report:

Nevada
In 2003, Nevada arrested people for marijuana at a rate of 190 per 100,000. Current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 6,065 per 100,000 or an estimated 136,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 48 percent of total drug arrests (4,260 out of 8,925 total arrests).

New Mexico
In 2003, New Mexico arrested people for marijuana at a rate of 132 per 100,000. Current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 5,909 per 100,000 or an estimated 111,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 45 percent of total drug arrests (2,473 out of 5,481 total arrests).

Utah
In 2003, Utah arrested people for marijuana at a rate of 173 per 100,000. Current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 3,104 per 100,000 or an estimated 73,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 48 percent of total drug arrests (4,059 out of 8,496 total arrests).

Colorado
In 2003, Colorado arrested people for marijuana at a rate of 210 per 100,000. Current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 6,883 per 100,000 or an estimated 313,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 58 percent of total drug arrests (9,552 out of 16,389).

Connecticut
In 2003, Connecticut arrested people for marijuana at rate of 168 per 100,000. While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 5,678 per 100,000 or an estimated 198,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 49 percent of total drug arrests (5,872 out of 11,942 total arrests).

Vermont
In 2003, Vermont arrested people for marijuana at rate of 127 per 100,000. While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 8,396 per 100,000 or an estimated 52,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 54 percent of total drug arrests (784 out of 1,444 total arrests).

New York
In 2003, New York arrested people for marijuana at rate of 145 per 100,000. While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 6,074 per 100,000 or an estimated 1,167,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 63 percent of total drug arrests (27,908 out of 44,135 total arrests).

Alabama
In 2003, Alabama arrested people for marijuana at rate of 212 per 100,000. While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 3,553 per 100,000 or an estimated 160,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 59 percent of total drug arrests (9,549 out of 16,133 total arrests). Alabama currently has 408 people in prison for marijuana as the controlling offense.

California
In 2003, California arrested people for marijuana at rate of 171 per 100,000. While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 5,217 per 100,000 or an estimated 1,850,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 22 percent of total drug arrests (60,652 out of 273,229 total arrests). California currently has 1,189 people in prison for marijuana as the controlling offense.

Texas
In 2003, Texas arrested people for marijuana at rate of 222 per 100,000.
While, current marijuana use (in the past 30 days) stood at a rate of 3,751 per 100,000 or an estimated 829,000 people. In that same year marijuana arrests comprised 56 percent of total drug arrests (48,963 out of 88,053 total arrests). Texas currently has 1,215 people in prison for marijuana as the controlling offense.

                                                                  

JPI

Contact: Malik Russell 202-558-7974, ext. 308
Laura Jones 202-558-7974, ext. 307
For a copy of Efficacy and Impact: The Criminal Justice Response to Marijuana Policy in the United States contact Malik Russell mrussell@justicepolicy.org or Laura Jones ljones@justicepolicy.org. The Justice Policy Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank dedicated to ending society’s reliance on incarceration and promoting effective and just solutions to social problems