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Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined
https://www.washingtonpost.com ^ | 10/12/16 | Christopher Ingraham

Posted on 10/14/2016 4:25:58 PM PDT by BBell

On any given day in the United States, at least 137,000 people sit behind bars on simple drug-possession charges, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch.

Nearly two-thirds of them are in local jails. The report says that most of these jailed inmates have not been convicted of any crime: They're sitting in a cell, awaiting a day in court, an appearance that may be months or even years off, because they can't afford to post bail.

"It's been 45 years since the war on drugs was declared, and it hasn't been a success," lead author Tess Borden of Human Rights Watch said in an interview. "Rates of drug use are not down. Drug dependency has not stopped. Every 25 seconds, we're arresting someone for drug use."

Federal figures on drug arrests and drug use over the past three decades tell the story. Drug-possession arrests skyrocketed, from fewer than 200 arrests for every 100,000 people in 1979 to more than 500 in the mid-2000s. The drug-possession rate has since fallen slightly, according to the FBI, hovering near 400 arrests per 100,000 people.

Defenders of harsh penalties for drug possession say they are necessary to deter people from using drugs and to protect public health. But despite the tough-on-crime push that led to the surge in arrests in recent decades, illicit drug use today is more common among Americans age 12 and older than it was in the early 1980s. Federal figures show no correlation between drug-possession arrests and rates of drug use during that time.

But the ACLU and Human Rights Watch report shows that arrests for drug possession continue to make up a significant chunk of modern-day police work.

"Around the country, police make more arrests for drug possession than for

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: arrest; cannabis; marijuana; police; warondrugs
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To: BBell

The “Criminal Justice Industrial Complex” is far too profitable for far too many. What would cops, lawyers, corrections, bail bondsmen, judges and court house employees do? What would happen to the wonderful kick-backs from the dealers?


41 posted on 10/14/2016 5:11:22 PM PDT by Tours
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To: TexasGator

LOL is right.

The libs want people to believe this BS but very few go to jail on simple MJ possession charge. That’s a damn summons because police don’t want to go through booking someone on this crap. Catch and release.

Now if they were being truthful, they would say that the real reason they are in jail is for warrants, and the dope was due to a search incident to arrest, that I would believe.


42 posted on 10/14/2016 5:13:17 PM PDT by Molon Labbie
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To: HiTech RedNeck

http://www.today.com/parents/edible-marijuana-looks-candy-sending-kids-er-t94486


43 posted on 10/14/2016 5:13:53 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: cherry

you mean we have “millions” in jail for drug use.....wow....love to see the official stats on that...


“There have been about 350,000 arrests for marijuana possession since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office in 2002, the policy alliance said.”

That’s in NYC alone for only 12 years. So for the forty years from 1976 to 2016, I’d have to say millions nationwide is indisputable.


44 posted on 10/14/2016 5:15:45 PM PDT by sparklite2 (When they play the race card, play the Trump card.)
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To: TexasGator

LOL.


45 posted on 10/14/2016 5:17:29 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: cherry

I’m not saying that we have millions of Americans incarcerated at one time right now, what I’m saying is that once you have been convicted of a felony drug crime and have a criminal record, life becomes very difficult. These people have a tough time finding decent jobs, a tough time getting credit, getting into good colleges, etc. They are essentially burdened with an anchor that’s dragging them and into the permanent underclass.

The victims of the criminal justice system could be your friends, your family, and eventually even you.


46 posted on 10/14/2016 5:18:18 PM PDT by WMarshal (Trump 2016)
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To: Tours

And our wonderful civil confiscation system has become a de facto tax. Those who benefit by a tax are the first to argue against losing that benefit.


47 posted on 10/14/2016 5:20:04 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Waco?

So your associates include gang bangers in addition to Soros?


48 posted on 10/14/2016 5:20:04 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: lee martell

“Would an end to these arrests put over 30% of our Police out of a job? Would an end to the tickets, paroles lawyer fees and fines paid by those accused of pot possession put a city at great financial compromise? I hope not.”

So you’re good with putting otherwise harmless people in cages, so long as it provides jobs and creates revenue?

Okay.


49 posted on 10/14/2016 5:20:49 PM PDT by Herr Karl Hungus
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To: TexasGator

You know that is a God-damned lie, so why don’t you just admit it?


50 posted on 10/14/2016 5:21:43 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: sparklite2

Are you referring to the Soros-funded Drug Policy Alliance?


51 posted on 10/14/2016 5:23:13 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: HiTech RedNeck

I will as soon as I see you denounce biker gangs and Soros funded groups.


52 posted on 10/14/2016 5:24:43 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: TexasGator

Why of course not. However I do not separate the world into sheer black and sheer white and believe there are certain canons of civil treatment that should be afforded to everybody.

Your argument and insinuation falls apart the moment it is put under any kind of real examination.


53 posted on 10/14/2016 5:24:45 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: TexasGator

You will do what’s right only when you see someone else do what you say is right?


54 posted on 10/14/2016 5:25:10 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Herr Karl Hungus

No. Not justifying it at all. I’m just wondering have the City Court and Legal systems become so dependent on this type of arrest as an artificial way of staying solvent given their expenditures that they would implode or crash without it?
If such is the case, they need to restructure their budgets and their priorities.


55 posted on 10/14/2016 5:28:45 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: lee martell

Any system that built, in whole or in part, on revenue generated from non-crimes *should* implode.


56 posted on 10/14/2016 5:35:59 PM PDT by Herr Karl Hungus
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To: TexasGator

I don’t know. But the point remains that millions jailed in the last forty years for violating marijuana laws is not an unreasonable estimate.


57 posted on 10/14/2016 5:36:56 PM PDT by sparklite2 (When they play the race card, play the Trump card.)
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To: TexasGator

Here’s something from the ACLU ...

Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana.

Looks like ‘millions’ is a massive understatement, doesn’t it?


58 posted on 10/14/2016 5:39:50 PM PDT by sparklite2 (When they play the race card, play the Trump card.)
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To: Herr Karl Hungus

You consider drug dealers as non-criminals?


59 posted on 10/14/2016 5:41:16 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Oh yes, another great fringe benefit for some in our glorious “War on Drugs”.


60 posted on 10/14/2016 5:44:40 PM PDT by Tours
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