President Joe Biden and many other politicians who continue to resist the legalization of marijuana have instead advocated for the legalization of simple possession. They argued that by replacing criminal penalties with civil fines, lawmakers could reduce arrests of property without taking further steps to allow recreational use.But according to the new JAMA Open Network studyeven though possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized, states have seen dramatic reductions in marijuana arrests after they legalized recreational use.
UC San Diego researchers Christian Gunadi and Yuyan Shi analyzed data on FBI arrests for marijuana possession from 2010 to 2019 in 31 states, nine of which legalized recreational use and 22 of them State not legalized. Five states in the first group (California, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Vermont) have eliminated criminal penalties for low-level property, while four others (Alaska, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington) No.
Arrests fell 76 percent in the four states that were not first to legalize marijuana compared with states where marijuana is still illegal. That’s not surprising, since adults 21 or older are no longer arrested in those states for possessing less than the prescribed amount of marijuana. Another major result was even more striking: In states that have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, arrests fell by 40%.
This might seem counterintuitive, since even before legalization, possession of low-level marijuana wasn’t an arrestable offense in these states.But after legalization, Gunadi and Shi noted, “Law enforcement officers no longer need to look for small amounts of marijuana violations.” Although possession over the legal limit remains a criminal offense after legalization, they write, “Overall, police low search rate [recreational legalization] Even in states that have legalized marijuana, it could lead to a significant reduction in arrests. “
“Lower police search rates” aren’t just a matter of law enforcement priorities.In some states, courts have hold When possession of small amounts of marijuana is legalized, the smell of marijuana, whether by police officers or drug detection dogs, is no longer a likely reason for a search.For example, in 2017, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruling An “alert” from dogs trained to detect marijuana and other drugs does not justify a vehicle search, which could be triggered by legal possession of marijuana.After New York legalized recreational marijuana last year, the NYPD instruct “The smell of marijuana alone cannot identify a probable criminal cause for a vehicle search,” officials said.
There’s another possible reason why states that legalize marijuana after decriminalizing possession see further declines in arrests: They typically increase the amount of marijuana needed to make an arrest. Even though the amount that can be legally owned in public is the same as the threshold that triggers criminal charges after decriminalization, states often set higher limits for private ownership.
For example, in California, adults allow Grow up to six plants at home and keep the cannabis they produce.Massachusetts allow Adults can have up to 10 oz at home. in Oregon, limit It’s two ounces in public (one ounce for decriminalization) and eight ounces at home, though exceeding the latter cap doesn’t trigger a criminal penalty unless the amount is a pound or more.
Since the minimum age for purchase and ownership in states that allow recreational use is 21, it’s no surprise that Gunadi and Shi found “no correlation between the two.” [recreational legalization] and changes in youth arrest rates. “They defined “youth” as arrestees under the age of 18, because that’s the cutoff the FBI uses, which means it’s impossible to specifically look at arrests of 18 to 20-year-olds.
Gunadi and Shi also found that “changes in arrest rates [legalization] There is no difference between blacks and whites. “In other words, both groups benefit equally from the reduction in arrests following legalization, which means that pre-existing differences will remain roughly the same.
“Despite similar rates of marijuana use,” Gunadi and Shi noted, “blacks were reported to be three to four times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession. A previous study estimated that marijuana legalization was associated with approximately 17.0% related to reducing racial disparities in arrests among black and white adults. Our results show that [recreational legalization] May not provide additional benefits in reducing racial disparities compared with decriminalization.Nonetheless, we should note that marijuana possession has decreased after arrests [recreational legalization] Significant to black and white adults, indicative of sweeping changes in law enforcement behavior. “
Gunadi and Shi did not consider arrests for public smoking of marijuana, which remains a criminal offense in some states that have legalized recreational use. But their overall findings are consistent with recent national trends reflecting the impact of an increasing number of states legalizing recreational marijuana (21 so far).
According to FBI figures, in 2020 the US police made About 350,000 people were arrested For marijuana crimes, nine out of ten involve possession rather than production or sale. It was the lowest number of marijuana arrests recorded in three decades.Before a 36% drop in 2020 18% reduction 2019.
The FBI recorded fewer marijuana arrests last year: about 171,000. But this figure should be viewed with caution, as the change in approach has resulted in significantly lower engagement by police departments.National Marijuana Law Reform Organization notes “Law enforcement agencies representing approximately 34 percent of the U.S. population failed to report arrest data for 2021.”
