FBI: Cannabis arrests on the rise for 3rd year running

[Vee]

The number of US cannabis arrests continued to climb last year, new federal data show, in spite of increasing legal and public approval for the plant.

Law enforcement made an estimated 663,367 cannabis-related arrests in 2018, according to FBI data released this week, up from an estimated 659,700 the previous year. That’s more than one cannabis arrest per minute in 2018—the same year a record two-thirds of Americans (66%) said they support legalization

“These numbers are incredibly disheartening,” Sheila Vakharia, PhD, deputy director for academic engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a phone call with Leafly. “They’re not significantly different from previous years, despite the fact that we see states passing increasing and more progressive marijuana reforms, both as decriminalization and legalization.”


More than 1.6 million arrests in 2018 were drug-related, according to the FBI report, which compiles data from many but not all US law enforcement groups, including state, local, and tribal authorities. And of the roughly 40% of those that had to do with cannabis, the vast majority were for simply possessing the plant or its products.


It’s the third consecutive year cannabis arrests have risen, reversing a trend of declining arrests that began after 2007, when the number peaked at a record 872,721 total cannabis arrests.“At a time when the overwhelming


The vastmajority of Americans want cannabis to be legal and regulated,
it is an outrage that many police departments across the country continue to waste tax dollars and limited law enforcement resources on arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens for simple marijuana possession,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said in a statement.

Nearly 91% of all cannabis arrests in 2018—or approximately 608,776—were for simple possession. That’s a slightly higher portion than in 2017, when roughly 599,282 people were arrested for possession.

Cannabis possession arrest rates were highest in the Northeast region, making up nearly half of all drug-possession arrests, followed closely by the Midwest and Southern regions. In the West, where multiple large states have legalized the plant for adult use, arrests for cannabis possession were much lower, making up just 13.4% of all drug arrests

FBI: Cannabis arrests on the rise for 3rd year running

Law enforcement made an estimated 663,367 cannabis-related arrests in 2018, according to FBI data released this week, up from an estimated 659,700 the previous year. Most were for simple possession.

www.leafly.com

 

[beefterpene]

Look at California busts all summer long and the cost of an elbow in the midwest... glad it's back down now.

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

Here in the south they have been pulling everyone over left and right. Town after town. Its like they are hurting for money so they are harrassing the public. I got pulled over 3 days in a row for made up shit. Didnt get a ticket but wanted to shine that flashlight in the car and ask ya hundred questions. But im used to it ive been pulled over prob a couple hundred times in my life. Small town cops do this.


Been pulled over with 1/4 lb or more in the trunk many times. Thags why i vaccum seal everything and wipe it down before delivering. My car i use is a diesel and cant smell nothing but diesel fumes when idliling so i never turn my car off.

 

[Punisher84]

Here in the south they have been pulling everyone over left and right. Town after town. Its like they are hurting for money so they are harrassing the public. I got pulled over 3 days in a row for made up shit. Didnt get a ticket but wanted to shine that flashlight in the car and ask ya hundred questions. But im used to it ive been pulled over prob a couple hundred times in my life. Small town cops do this.


Been pulled over with 1/4 lb or more in the trunk many times. Thags why i vaccum seal everything and wipe it down before delivering. My car i use is a diesel and cant smell nothing but diesel fumes when idliling so i never turn my car off.

Same way here, been stopped many times. This is my greatest example.

If you’re out past 10-11pm and driving through town, good luck. Most of the bars close at like 8-9 because of so many random pull overs. I’ve even heard and seen people getting stopped randomly on county roads. At night it seems like guys take extra patrols or something. You will see city guys working the highway a lot of time.

City cop stopped me one night on the highway. It was 10:30pm, had left Menards, went to the brewery and filled my growler up to take home. I couldn’t have been more sober, was a Friday night, I hadn’t been drinking through the week so it had been 6 days since I had a beer. Didn’t smoke then. I’d just got out of the service and wasn’t in the mood to be messed with, but knowing the lack of training cops get I just shut up and did as he asked. Immediately accused me of drinking. Growler in the back seat sitting in plain view. (I now have a carpet lined rack bolted into the back with a cover, always have growlers w/ me). I denied the field sobriety test cause it was fucking cold out, for whatever reason I blew a .35 several times. I asked for another trooper to show up and try his breathalyzer. Wouldn’t do it so towed truck and hauled me to their office. Blew zeros on 3 machines.

So that cost them a tow bill, a 45 minute ride to the tow yard, and $500 to open the yard after hours to get my truck back. It’s over right. Nope. The tow truck guy pinched brake line in half when he hauled it. (3 month old truck) So in the middle of the night the city has to pay a guy to open his service shop, haul my truck there, pay to open the parts store after hours to get a new brake line, then pay to replace the line and send me on my way. Got home at 7am.

I never got mad, never raised my voice, just stayed calm and made them look like fools. Chief called me The next afternoon and apologized.. Guy who stopped me got caught selling stuff out of the evidence room. Think he is jobless and hooked on the needle.


I stay home at night unless I have to. I’m a early riser and have been stopped in the mornings several times, pretty ridiculous.

 

[Seed of Memory]

Here in the south they have been pulling everyone over left and right. Town after town. Its like they are hurting for money so they are harrassing the public. I got pulled over 3 days in a row for made up shit. Didnt get a ticket but wanted to shine that flashlight in the car and ask ya hundred questions. But im used to it ive been pulled over prob a couple hundred times in my life. Small town cops do this.


Been pulled over with 1/4 lb or more in the trunk many times. Thags why i vaccum seal everything and wipe it down before delivering. My car i use is a diesel and cant smell nothing but diesel fumes when idliling so i never turn my car off.

The south is going to be the last region to go legal. Same issues here. I buy bud I have my people either vacuum seal it or I put it in a sealed container in this nifty little spot in my car. Exhaust on it is about 6 inches on a dual so the fume smell tends to overpower everything.

One of the people I get it from has 2 problems. He's black and sells bud in the South. He got popped with less than an ounce but served 10 months for it and has 7 years of paper left. It is insane. They impounded his car as well.

We have a heroin epidemic and they would rather fuck with people carrying personal use amounts of a plant that is considered a medicine in 27 states plus multiple countries, including our much smarter neighbors to the north.

 

[GCG]

Bigger picture, the bastards are doing it for the asset forfeiture. Trying get as much shit to auction off before the fucking faucet closes. Should be criminal what they get away with.

 

[beefterpene]

I live in a small town in the north. There are quite a few cops who have bad attitude and riddled with PTSD from the military, the thing is... you usually don't get hassled by them if you unless you really are screwing off.

When I was younger I had my car tossed a few times and they never found anything. If it was getting close or hairy I leveled with them. Look officer I have a bag of weed in my car, its personal and you know what... never had it come back to haunt me for being honest once it got to that point.

I won't say that I haven't been pulled over wrongfully though, lamest reason was a dealership licences plate holder that was "illegal"

I just come at them like people, sure my eyes probably dialate a bit but otherwise calm and cool. Have the answere they want to hear and just be matter of fact. On my way to work/home/ to help my elderly mother ect (usually true).

Even when I've been bake af and given a sobriety test, do as they say and answer their questions in stride with confidence. Keep them talking honestly. It's a distraction but it will apply to their sensibilities. When they let me go, always wish them a great day and to be safe out there.

I was on my way to work about 2 years ago, running a little late so I was cooking. Had just taken a few hits from my pipe and as I come around a blind turn (I knew better) saw the po po writting around the corner. It was too late. I was cruising (70 in a 55), instead of slowing down I kept hauling through the blind s turn. This allowed me to throw my pipe into the woods and start mowing down on the 2 to 3 grams of flower I usually take to work each day for breaks and lunch (CNC machinist, I like to stay on the zone, especially working aerospace). I pulled over after the turns, washing my flower down with coffee as the cop pulled up I already had my paper work coming out of the box (saves bs of flashing and peeping suspicion). He gave me the "do you know how fast were going" and you know this is a 55 mph roadway. Explained I was running behind and should have known better and called ahead to work and let then know. He returned to his car and ran my stuff, that's when a 2nd vehicle pulled up. They both came to my car on either side. Said my car smelled of "burnt marijuana" and they would like me to step out of the car.

I lied and told them I had smoked in my car the previous day and that it's just very good marijuana, but had smoked after my shower over an hour before. They searched my car and found one of my small rounds files I took from work that had some resin on it, they asked "is this your Dab tool?" I chuckled and said no, that's resin on there, I use it to clean, poke or stir my pipe, definitely not a dab tool. They proceeded to give me a sobriety test, kept them talking, explained my eight eye has astigmatism so it will react weird to the light. Also when I got into walking the line I asked if I could tie my boots and that I broke both ankles when I was 18 so please take the tendon and nerve damage into account.

We kept talking and I explain hey, do I like smoking, yes but honestly it helps me be all I can be since I suffer from anxiety and it works so much better, I definitely don't want to kill myself like the meds I've tried seem to induce (never had issues with that kind of depression). Said it's only a matter of time until our state catches up and it's funny how the Capitol of our state decriminalized over 10 years ago and there is even a town outside the Capitol that has a $1 possession fine.

After the test they said that after talking with me that I seem present and concise and that they were going to let me go with a speeding warning but I had to have someone pick me up because I admitted to smoking within the last 3 hours.

Got to work and told my boss the story and that I will be using a vacation day lol.

I've never had issues being super honest with the police. Usually works out in my favor vs what could have been. They also see that I'm not some stereotypical stoner.

Sorry for the long story, I'm burning vacation before the end of the year... stoned.

-Beef

 

[Punisher84]

I live in a small town in the north. There are quite a few cops who have bad attitude and riddled with PTSD from the military, the thing is... you usually don't get hassled by them if you unless you really are screwing off.

When I was younger I had my car tossed a few times and they never found anything. If it was getting close or hairy I leveled with them. Look officer I have a bag of weed in my car, its personal and you know what... never had it come back to haunt me for being honest once it got to that point.

I won't say that I haven't been pulled over wrongfully though, lamest reason was a dealership licences plate holder that was "illegal"

I just come at them like people, sure my eyes probably dialate a bit but otherwise calm and cool. Have the answere they want to hear and just be matter of fact. On my way to work/home/ to help my elderly mother ect (usually true).

Even when I've been bake af and given a sobriety test, do as they say and answer their questions in stride with confidence. Keep them talking honestly. It's a distraction but it will apply to their sensibilities. When they let me go, always wish them a great day and to be safe out there.

I was on my way to work about 2 years ago, running a little late so I was cooking. Had just taken a few hits from my pipe and as I come around a blind turn (I knew better) saw the po po writting around the corner. It was too late. I was cruising (70 in a 55), instead of slowing down I kept hauling through the blind s turn. This allowed me to throw my pipe into the woods and start mowing down on the 2 to 3 grams of flower I usually take to work each day for breaks and lunch (CNC machinist, I like to stay on the zone, especially working aerospace). I pulled over after the turns, washing my flower down with coffee as the cop pulled up I already had my paper work coming out of the box (saves bs of flashing and peeping suspicion). He gave me the "do you know how fast were going" and you know this is a 55 mph roadway. Explained I was running behind and should have known better and called ahead to work and let then know. He returned to his car and ran my stuff, that's when a 2nd vehicle pulled up. They both came to my car on either side. Said my car smelled of "burnt marijuana" and they would like me to step out of the car.

I lied and told them I had smoked in my car the previous day and that it's just very good marijuana, but had smoked after my shower over an hour before. They searched my car and found one of my small rounds files I took from work that had some resin on it, they asked "is this your Dab tool?" I chuckled and said no, that's resin on there, I use it to clean, poke or stir my pipe, definitely not a dab tool. They proceeded to give me a sobriety test, kept them talking, explained my eight eye has astigmatism so it will react weird to the light. Also when I got into walking the line I asked if I could tie my boots and that I broke both ankles when I was 18 so please take the tendon and nerve damage into account.

We kept talking and I explain hey, do I like smoking, yes but honestly it helps me be all I can be since I suffer from anxiety and it works so much better, I definitely don't want to kill myself like the meds I've tried seem to induce (never had issues with that kind of depression). Said it's only a matter of time until our state catches up and it's funny how the Capitol of our state decriminalized over 10 years ago and there is even a town outside the Capitol that has a $1 possession fine.

After the test they said that after talking with me that I seem present and concise and that they were going to let me go with a speeding warning but I had to have someone pick me up because I admitted to smoking within the last 3 hours.

Got to work and told my boss the story and that I will be using a vacation day lol.

I've never had issues being super honest with the police. Usually works out in my favor vs what could have been. They also see that I'm not some stereotypical stoner.

Sorry for the long story, I'm burning vacation before the end of the year... stoned.

-Beef

Yeah if you're straight with them they will be straight back.

Ive never ate flower, can't say as I would want to. Most I ever have in a vehicle is just a doob tube with a blunt in it. Thats hidden easily, though I haven't ever been accused of having it in my vehicle.

 

[GCG]

Seen honesty go both ways. Its all about the cop. Too many are jerkoffs who got beat up when they were young and joined the force to feel powerful. In all my life I have never needed a cop for anything but a car accident. Other than that every interaction I've had has been with dickhead cops. Not a fan.

 

[Punisher84]

Seen honesty go both ways. Its all about the cop. Too many are jerkoffs who got beat up when they were young and joined the force to feel powerful. In all my life I have never needed a cop for anything but a car accident. Other than that every interaction I've had has been with dickhead cops. Not a fan.

Ain’t that the truth. When I got out and moved back to my home town, I’d been gone 8 years. Ran into a guy I went to school with. He was a city cop. Dude always got picked on, was the biggest pussy probably in the class. I busted out laughing when I found out he was a cop.
Lost his job when he tased an 8 year old. (Little shit prob deserved it)