More people are now arrested for marijuana possession than violent crimes.

Medical marijuana is legal in 18 states. Recreational marijuana is legal in two states. Marijuana, in any use, is illegal federally. Statistics show that, every 42 seconds, someone is busted. A majority of those arrests are for possession.

In 2011, there were 663,032 marijuana arrests. According to an FBI report, arrests have doubled since 1980.

Violent crime arrests totaled 534,704 in 2011. That number includes every violent crime, no matter how big or small.

The Huffington Post has published a chart that shows violent crime arrests versus marijuana arrests since 1980.

Since 2008, President Obama has said marijuana was a low priority crime and promised not to get in the way of state medical marijuana laws. He has since cracked down on medical dispensaries harshly.

The cost for all these marijuana arrests is paid for by taxpayers. Some estimates believe the cost is $10 billion a year. In New York City alone, the cost is $75 million a year. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talked about the issue in his State of the State Address:

“Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and wastes millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime. It’s not fair, it’s not right. It must end, and it must end now.”

Here is the chart the Huffinton Post published:

What do you think? Do you find it odd that so many people are arrested for marijuana every year? Is the government really treating the drug as a low priority crime?

More People Are Arrested For Marijuana Than Violent Crimes is a post from: The Inquisitr

Decriminalizing marijuana is a hot topic lately, with two states going so far as to legalize recreational use of the substance for all adults — and the American Civil Liberties Union has examined a new study that suggests legalizing pot helps (rather than hurts) young people.

Decriminalizing marijuana is often argued against on the basis of increased availability and the effects such laws and lax policy would have on young people. But a recent study from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) seems to indicate the opposite is true — and perhaps prosecution for use of what is in actuality a relatively benign substance is the true issue to consider when it comes to intuitive and ideal marijuana policy.

Much of the ACLU’s breakdown centers on an ugly fact that is the elephant in the room when it comes to marijuana offenses — far from the problem being marijuana itself, initial contact with the criminal justice system is often its own precipitate to a future likelihood of criminal activity. The causes are legion and beyond the scope of just legal pot, but the basic math remains — when we arrest fewer youths for possessing marijuana, we ultimately end up with fewer youths that go on to become inmates for any reason.

The civil liberties organization looks at the impact of Senate Bill 1449 on a small section of youth drug arrests in California — which decreased by nearly half after the bill passed. The post explains:

“The astounding 47 percent decrease in overall youth drug arrests revealed by this report also indicates that a large majority of young people being swept into the system are not violent criminals or drug kingpins – they are guilty only of possessing a small quantity of marijuana for personal use … As juvenile crime rates have decreased in California, so have incarceration rates, which underscores the reality that it is indeed possible to increase public safety and simultaneously decrease the number of people behind bars. Reduced crime rates and smaller prison populations are not mutually exclusive.”

Another point made by the ACLU is the unintentional but severely disproportionate effect such infractions have on youth of color — and that the existence of laws allowing for the potential harassment of those portions of minority youth predicated on drug laws enabling more broad-scale invasions of their rights and liberties.

It seems America is rapidly moving toward decriminalization in even just the past few years — do you agree that relaxing marijuana laws will overall benefit young people?

Decriminalizing Marijuana Benefits Youths, ACLU Investigates New Study is a post from: The Inquisitr

Cops, come and try to snatch my crops…

Officer Wesley Lamb’s mellow was totally harshed when he recently got popped for smoking weed- in uniform, in his police car. An unidentified tipster totally narced on Lamb for the incident, and internal affairs set up a sting to catch the cop in further pothead behavior. An undercover officer posed as a private citizen wishing to turn in 86 grams of pot, and quite predictably, Lamb didn’t report the incident, nor did he turn the weed in as evidence.

Undercover officers then filmed Lamb moving the stash to his “personal vehicle.” Lamb was arrested, and is now free on $7500 bail. Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief addressed the incident in a statement following Lamb’s arrest:

On behalf of our City Council, everyone shares in the disappointment and frustration that one of our own police officers, sworn to uphold the law, has been arrested for possession of marijuana and tampering with evidence. Let me be clear: Fort Worth has in the past, and will in the future, strongly support the honorable, heroic men and women who protect us and our neighborhoods. But, right is right and wrong is wrong. Those wearing the badge who choose to violate their oath or ignore the laws they are sworn to uphold will be revealed. They will not be the exception to the rules when they are the ones who are expected to set the example for the rest of us. They will be dealt with, swiftly and severely, and will not be welcome here in our city.

My thanks to Chief Halstead for his swift action in this matter and for his creation of the police department’s Special Investigations Unit. It conducted the investigation and undercover operation over the last two days. Our Chief has my full support. I look forward to continuing our work together with the City Manager, and his staff, to ensure our citizens’ safety and well-being.

Lamb resigned from the force Wednesday.

Cop busted for smoking up in his cruiser is a post from: The Inquisitr