Federal marijuana arrests continue to plummet year over year as more states move to legalize cannabis, new data from the Justice Department shows. While there were still 2,576 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) marijuana arrests in fiscal year 2020, cannabis busts have dropped an average of 11 percent each year since 2010, when DEA made 8,215 such arrests. There are likely several factors at play, including, most recently, the role of the coronavirus pandemic, which the Bureau of Justice Statistics said “drove an 81 percent decline in arrests and 77 percent decline in cases charged from March to April 2020.” But advocates also say that the significant downward trend in cannabis prosecutions reflects discretionary decisions by DOJ amid the state-level legalization movement. While prior Obama-era guidance urging such discretion was rescinded under the Trump administration, the department has not signaled a renewed interest in going after individuals for simply possessing or using marijuana. Drug-related cases accounted for 16 percent of all federal arrests in 2020, the new report says.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 05/23/2022 12:47:00