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In early October, President Joe Biden announced that thousands of Americans with federal convictions for marijuana possession would be pardoned as part of an effort to address inequities present in anti-drug law enforcement practices.
Though the White House has said there are no people currently in federal prison solely for simple possession of cannabis, the act will make it easier for previously-convicted offenders to pursue employment, find housing, and for some, register to vote. However, the pardon will not apply to the hundreds of thousands of mostly Black and Hispanic Americans convicted at the state level for the same crime.
According to data available in the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer – an interactive portal for exploring crime statistics through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program – state and local law enforcement agencies reported 170,856 arrests for marijuana possession in 2021, down from over 226,000 in 2020. Arrests don’t always lead to convictions or prison sentences.
Texas alone reported more than 21,000 arrests last year, making it responsible for 12% of the nation’s total. New York and New Jersey were steadily the second- and third-highest contributors to the nation’s total up until 2021, when both states legalized recreational marijuana and had subsequent drops in reported count of arrests. They both reported more than 19,000 arrests in 2020 alone, and only reported 783, combined, in 2021. That year Tennessee and North Carolina moved into second and third place, respectively, as the highest contributors to the nation’s total arrest count.
However, these figures may significantly underestimate actual arrests. In 2020, 85% of law enforcement agencies participated in the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which informs the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. In 2021, that figure declined to 63%. In New York and New Jersey combined, participation went from 89% of law enforcement agencies in 2020, to merely 13% in 2021. That low participation is largely due to an overhaul in the reporting system.
Research suggests people of color are more likely to be penalized for marijuana possession than their white counterparts.
A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union found that, “In 2018 – unchanged from 2010 – Black people were still nearly 4 times more likely than white people to get arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates.”
Biden addressed this disparity when he made the pardon announcement.
“While white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate rates,” he said in a statement. “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.”
Advocates for overhauling the nation’s drug laws are hopeful that Biden’s actions may prompt state lawmakers to follow in his footsteps, pardoning and expunging minor drug offenses from people’s records.
Of the 31 states in which marijuana is still recreationally illegal, five have it as a ballot issue next month. Voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether recreational, adult use of marijuana should be legalized in next month’s elections.
H/T: www.usnews.com
You can view the whole article at this link States With the Most Arrests for Marijuana Possession
