Interesting - Wasteful Spending?

[XtremeJibber2001]

I couldn't agree more with St. Pierre

Marijuana Arrests For Year 2005 -- 786,545 Tops Record High... Pot Smokers Arrested In America At A Rate Of One Every 40 Seconds

September 18, 2006 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: Police arrested an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations in 2005, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The total is the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and comprised 42.6 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.



"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, who noted that at current rates, a marijuana smoker is arrested every 40 seconds in America. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 88 percent some 696,074 Americans were charged with possession only. The remaining 90,471 individuals were charged with "sale/manufacture," a category that includes all cultivation offenses even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use. In past years, roughly 30 percent of those arrested were age 19 or younger.

"Present policies have done little if anything to decrease marijuana's availability or dissuade youth from trying it," St. Pierre said, noting young people in the U.S. now frequently report that they have easier access to pot than alcohol or tobacco.

The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2005 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Annual marijuana arrests have more than doubled since the early 1990s.

"Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens," St. Pierre said, adding that over 8 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past decade. During this same time, arrests for cocaine and heroin have declined sharply, implying that increased enforcement of marijuana laws is being achieved at the expense of enforcing laws against the possession and trafficking of more dangerous drugs.

St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 18 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater - and arguably far fewer - health risks than alcohol or tobacco. A better and more sensible solution would be to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco."

YEAR MARIJUANA ARRESTS

2005 786,545
2004 771,608
2003 755,187
2002 697,082
2001 723,627
2000 734,498
1999 704,812
1998 682,885
1997 695,200
1996 641,642
1995 588,963
1994 499,122
1993 380,689
1992 342,314
1991 287,850
1990 326,850

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500. For a comprehensive breakdown and analysis of US marijuana arrests, please see NORML's report: "Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States".

[Bubba]

Like wow man...like...uh....wow.........

[johnny the jibber]

thats alot of hippies...

[Bubba]

thats alot of hippies...

This is a lot of hippies http://www.woodstock69.com/

[XtremeJibber2001]

Like wow man...like...uh....wow.........

What do you think .... would the government benefit more from the fines all these people have to pay ... or would the government benefit more through legalization and tax?

[2knees]

, noting young people in the U.S. now frequently report that they have easier access to pot than alcohol or tobacco.

Yeah but once you reach middle age, its a sh*t load harder to find and keep reliable connections.

[yeti]

I have always been a pretty strong supporter of legalization.

Take a trip through Baltimore and you'll see why. Iraq level violence on the streets, tons of brutal cops having zero effect, and a revolving door at Central Booking downtown. It is a goddamn joke.

Legalization doesn't mean generating revenue from taxes - or selling crack and pot at 7-11 to whatever 8th grader decides he wants a hit. It simply could be a means to making the illicit drug trade unprofitable - thereby eliminating the violence and crime that goes along with it.

At what level do you implement the controls - good question. As open as alcohol? Prescitopn only as part of a drug treatment plan? They all have problems and drawbacks... but take a drive through your local ghetto and take a look at the result of criminalization: nothing can be as much a failure as that.

[XtremeJibber2001]

As open as alcohol? Prescitopn only as part of a drug treatment plan? They all have problems and drawbacks... but take a drive through your local ghetto and take a look at the result of criminalization: nothing can be as much a failure as that.

I think selling it in designated 'coffee shops' or in the same stores as liqour would be best. You'll have underage users, but minimize the violence associated with current laws against marijuana. Mandating a 21 y/o age limit to purchase and use marijuana would suffice. Moving the cigarette age to 21 along with the addition of marijuana would also be in 'my' best interests.

[yeti]

Pot is one thing, the other stuff.... well legal doesn't mean being sold retail.

[XtremeJibber2001]

Pot is one thing, the other stuff.... well legal doesn't mean being sold retail.

I think it (marijuana) should be sold retail.

Although, I've been thinking about my position and came into some problems.

Marijuana is grown in the wild, unadulterated from birth to my lungs.

The leaf that coke comes from (coco leaf) also grows natural. Coke/Crack can be maid fairly easily using household goods.

Opium also grows in the wild and also isn't altered much from birth to your body.

Shrooms grow in the wild and are the same as pot, straight from nature to your mouth.

With that said, I'm not sure how i can manage my position to legalize pot because it's natural because several of the above are also natural.

I guess I'd have to stick to the premise that marijuana is less harmful then the above, including alcohol and cigarettes.

[Steve]

I guess I'd have to stick to the premise that marijuana is less harmful then the above, including alcohol and cigarettes.

how about the premise that it's none of the government's business?
why doesn't that even occur to you?

[XtremeJibber2001]

I guess I'd have to stick to the premise that marijuana is less harmful then the above, including alcohol and cigarettes.

how about the premise that it's none of the government's business?
why doesn't that even occur to you?

Well, sure. I could name a lot of things that aren't the gov'ts business. The fact still remains that many items that shouldn't be their business, are. That being said, I find it hard to have any kind of real debate with anyone falling back to the simple NOYB argument.

In order to get the gov't to change any laws regarding marijuana, one would need a better arguement than "Waahhhhh, Wahhhhh, hey gov't it's NOYB, wahhhh". Showing society that marijuana is less harmful then tobacco and alcohol is far more appealing if you ask me. If society can embrace it as a whole, there is a better chance for change.

Oh, and this may have occured to me, but perhaps that wasn't my purpose.

[Steve]

In order to get the gov't to change any laws regarding marijuana, one would need a better arguement than "Waahhhhh, Wahhhhh, hey gov't it's NOYB, wahhhh".

tell that to (insert any patriot's name here).

I get your point though. it sucks that virtually everyone I talk to thinks the government intrudes too much, yet we keep reelecting politicians that intrude too much. wtf.

-steve

[XtremeJibber2001]

I get your point though. it sucks that virtually everyone I talk to thinks the government intrudes too much, yet we keep reelecting politicians that intrude too much. wtf.

-steve

Interesting you point that out. I was watching Wolf Blitzer last night and he interviewed some woman in regards to the polls that showed the american people think congress blows all together.

So the woman begins on a quick rant that voters have no one to vote for so many are registering as independent (like me) and are voting for the best 'party' candidate (not me). I'm like wtf is this lady thinking.

If i was in her position I'd merely suggest that the only way we can encourage change is to vote for the independent parties and alternatives outside the normal rep/dem race. Of course she didn't mention that. What good is a bunch of independants if they vote down 'normal' party lines anyway.

[BigKahuna13]

[


In order to get the gov't to change any laws regarding marijuana, one would need a better arguement than "Waahhhhh, Wahhhhh, hey gov't it's NOYB, wahhhh". Showing society that marijuana is less harmful then tobacco and alcohol is far more appealing if you ask me. If society can embrace it as a whole, there is a better chance for change.

There is no better argument that it's none of the government's business.
Forget which founder said it - probably Jefferson but I'm not sure - but whomever it was said something to the effect that "the most precious right is the right to be left alone".