Marijuana Arrests
As an update to Robert Scheer’s Nov. 17 Column Left, “The Drug War Isn’t About Combating Use,” it is worth noting that the FBI’s new annual crime report shows that 695,201 people were arrested for marijuana in the United States in 1997--87% of these for simple possession. This means that more Americans were arrested for marijuana in 1997 than in any other year in U.S. history.
This is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources. Marijuana prohibition creates dangerous criminal markets and takes police resources away from violent crime. It is time to stop arresting adults who grow and consume their own marijuana at home.
ROBERT D. KAMPIA
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington
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