Marijuana Arrests Set All-Time Record

[flyingimam]

Marijuana Arrests Set All-Time Record : NewsLI.com - Long Island News, News Long Island

September 15, 2008

Arrests for Marijuana Possession Exceed All Violent Crimes Combined

(Washington, D.C.) Continuing the recent trend, marijuana arrests set another all-time record in 2007, totaling 872,720. Arrests for marijuana possession totaled 775,138, greatly exceeding arrests for all violent crimes combined, which totaled 597,447.

* The number greatly exceeds the 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006, which itself was an all-time record.
* Arrests for illicit drugs other than marijuana declined in 2007 by over 84,000 compared to 2006.

â??Most Americans have no idea of the massive effort going into a war on marijuana users that has completely failed to curb marijuana use,â?� said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. â??Just this summer a new World Health Organization study of 17 countries found that we have the highest rate of marijuana use, despite some of the strictest marijuana laws and hyper-aggressive enforcement.

â??With government at all levels awash in debt, this is an insane waste of resources. If we regulated and taxed marijuana as we do beer, wine, and cigarettes, we could save tens of billions of dollars, better control marijuanaâ??s production and distribution, and cut off a huge source of funding to criminal gangs.â?�

Bizarrely, at his recent press conference announcing new drug use survey data, White House drug czar John Walters stated, â??We didnâ??t arrest 800,000 marijuana users,â?� and called that figure, when raised by MPPâ??s Aaron Houston and Dan Bernath, a â??lie.â?�**
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last time i looked this number up for a college government class, which wasnt too long ago, the figures from FBI's 2005 report were more near 700'000 mark!!!

** here is the video and his lies
[YOUTUBE]-fBA_L9B2go[/YOUTUBE]

flyingimam Reviewed by flyingimam on 09-16-2008. Marijuana Arrests Set All-Time Record Marijuana Arrests Set All-Time Record : NewsLI.com - Long Island News, News Long Island September 15, 2008 Arrests for Marijuana Possession Exceed All Violent Crimes Combined (Washington, D.C.) Continuing the recent trend, marijuana arrests set another all-time record in 2007, totaling 872,720. Arrests for marijuana possession totaled 775,138, greatly exceeding arrests for all violent crimes combined, which totaled 597,447. * The number greatly exceeds the 829,627 marijuana Rating: 5

[Markass]

I would've liked to have asked considering first time marijuana users 'don't end up in jail,' why do they need to even be arrested if they're not worthy of jail, aren't there more serious crimes to go and fight??

[FlyGuyOU]

I got arrested for simple possession, spent 16hours in jail
I wonder if im one of those stastitics

[TheMetal1]

Combined 46 hours for charges of simple possession. Apparently the survey missed me too :stoned:

One time because I was walking through a State Forest cleaning up trash and was spotted smoking by a group Forest service employees with an off duty Sherrif. In their defense... it isn't great to smoke in a wilderness area because you run the risk of fire, but the "fire risk" sign was green/low.

Ehh... the other time, I was in public and stupid (also too young to know better )

Like I said... 46 hours in a cell... thousands in fines... court ordered drug counseling (who said that me being there was a complete waste of time and money)... no chance for Federal financial aid until I was 25... not to mention I had to take a Defensive Driving course? :wtf: I wasn't even driving in either case, but I had to pay over $100 to sit in a room for 12 hours with people arrested for D.U.I. discussing why it's bad to drive a car under the influence. I was like "Yah... NO SHIT!!! That's why I was walking. Can I GO NOW?" So technically, it was 58 hours because of that driving class.

BUT, I think he is saying that they don't technically KEEP people in jail for years because of simple possession... but it is not fair at all to minimize the trouble that people face for those types of arrests. He seems to trivialize the whole thing... and even suggests that the laws on the books are not actually enforced. So, if the laws are so inappropriate that the Drug Czar admits they don't go by them... WHY DON'T THEY FUCKING CHANGE THEM!!!! FUUUUUUCK! I just got pissed off writing that line.

[Esoteric416]

Every time I build up some type of emotion resembling hope for our government it gets blasted apart by crap like this. I'd forgotten that it was so bad.

I'd like to say that maybe things will be different when we get our regime change in November, but then I remember that I've seen 5 different presidents in my day and nothing ever seems to really change.
The only real changes seem to come at a state level, but the fed tries to crap all over those changes most of the time.

I guess this outrage will have to touch the vast silent majority in a way that they can see rather than just behind the scenes for something real to be done about it.

Can't Michael Moore do a documentary on this? That might work, or help anyway.

[RobPA]

Every time I build up some type of emotion resembling hope for our government it gets blasted apart by crap like this. I'd forgotten that it was so bad.

I'd like to say that maybe things will be different when we get our regime change in November, but then I remember that I've seen 5 different presidents in my day and nothing ever seems to really change.
The only real changes seem to come at a state level, but the fed tries to crap all over those changes most of the time.

I guess this outrage will have to touch the vast silent majority in a way that they can see rather than just behind the scenes for something real to be done about it.

Can't Michael Moore do a documentary on this? That might work, or help anyway.

That idiot would be the last guy I'd want speaking out for marijuana reform.

[8182KSKUSH]

Every time I build up some type of emotion resembling hope for our government it gets blasted apart by crap like this. I'd forgotten that it was so bad.

I'd like to say that maybe things will be different when we get our regime change in November, but then I remember that I've seen 5 different presidents in my day and nothing ever seems to really change.
The only real changes seem to come at a state level, but the fed tries to crap all over those changes most of the time.

I guess this outrage will have to touch the vast silent majority in a way that they can see rather than just behind the scenes for something real to be done about it.

Can't Michael Moore do a documentary on this? That might work, or help anyway.

Cannabis as a political issue already has too many Michael Moores, until activism changes direction and the people associated with it, it is not going to achieve any kind of significant progress, and I predict, will be set further back. The sad thing is, most cannabis user's and supporters tend to just fall into the "Michael Moore" mentality and seem to think that's the way to go. Truly misguided and sad.

[DaBudhaStank]

Cannabis as a political issue already has too many Michael Moores, until activism changes direction and the people associated with it, it is not going to achieve any kind of significant progress, and I predict, will be set further back. The sad thing is, most cannabis user's and supporters tend to just fall into the "Michael Moore" mentality and seem to think that's the way to go. Truly misguided and sad.

I'd LIKE for activism to change, but I'm also convinced that it won't matter. It doesn't really matter how long and loud you yell if the people you're trying to reach are behind sound-proof glass. The only way to get their attention is the bust the window out. The government largely just doesn't care about this kind of thing, so they ignore anything positive we say and take anything negative and recycle it, then spew it back out. They just couldn't care less about it.

[flyingimam]

I'd LIKE for activism to change, but I'm also convinced that it won't matter. It doesn't really matter how long and loud you yell if the people you're trying to reach are behind sound-proof glass. The only way to get their attention is the bust the window out. The government largely just doesn't care about this kind of thing, so they ignore anything positive we say and take anything negative and recycle it, then spew it back out. They just couldn't care less about it.

not getting into michael moore's debate thing goin on here. but what he says in the quote is rather and sadly correct... they dont give a shit about this issue period. when they dont listen to scientific facts at the highest levels which are presidents or candidates for the role... u cant expect anything better. and i doubt shattering the window will work either... its more like exploding the whole room, may get some needed attention... shattering the glass will only be a minor nuisance as it has been with many books, movies and even movements.

u can change the structure in 2 ways:

1. demolishing the system overnight and replacing it with something else... (a bloody coupe or revolution) I still dont think this is a needed step when there is room for the 2nd option and i still dont find this process very healthy or efficient, not at least in the short term. plus its not even feasible or practical

or

2. fine tune and/or reform and renovate the existing system @ a much slower pace

most activists or activists wannabes have the 1st mind set (in my experience) and since its kind of obvious it just wont work, they slowly turn away from trying to change things, they rather get what they want and be happy with it at that level and gamble with the legal issues.

with the 2nd choice above i will have to say
activism = use of fairness or it will screw up the whole movement = rational obsession (u ought to be obsessed with the cause in order to withstand the tough journey but u ought to use common sense as well and dont get blinded by your own bias)

there have been major steps taken in recent years and government has always been spreading such hope-shattering info eversince weed was outlawed... we can only erode the system and push 1 step at a time but keep the process constant... remember reforms take years or decades to finish their jobs... its only been since 1970s that weed & people associated with it have been hit rather harshly and general mindset is shifting although slowly...

i personally think it will be a matter of just a few years, perhaps less than 10 years that the federal gridlock on marijuana policy is broken. and that is the main issue @ stake... i bet Nevada and certain tourism areas would legalize weed had it not been prohibited by federal law and had federal law not been held supreme to state laws by judicial system or the constitution

if the federal classification is lowered be sure the already in debt state governments will not waste a dime on arresting or punishing simple possessions... the local ordinances and regulations, lowering marijuana offense priority for LE agencies are just a speaking witness to this fact.

[Markass]

Combined 46 hours for charges of simple possession. Apparently the survey missed me too :stoned:

One time because I was walking through a State Forest cleaning up trash and was spotted smoking by a group Forest service employees with an off duty Sherrif. In their defense... it isn't great to smoke in a wilderness area because you run the risk of fire, but the "fire risk" sign was green/low.

Ehh... the other time, I was in public and stupid (also too young to know better )

Like I said... 46 hours in a cell... thousands in fines... court ordered drug counseling (who said that me being there was a complete waste of time and money)... no chance for Federal financial aid until I was 25... not to mention I had to take a Defensive Driving course? :wtf: I wasn't even driving in either case, but I had to pay over $100 to sit in a room for 12 hours with people arrested for D.U.I. discussing why it's bad to drive a car under the influence. I was like "Yah... NO SHIT!!! That's why I was walking. Can I GO NOW?" So technically, it was 58 hours because of that driving class.

BUT, I think he is saying that they don't technically KEEP people in jail for years because of simple possession... but it is not fair at all to minimize the trouble that people face for those types of arrests. He seems to trivialize the whole thing... and even suggests that the laws on the books are not actually enforced. So, if the laws are so inappropriate that the Drug Czar admits they don't go by them... WHY DON'T THEY FUCKING CHANGE THEM!!!! FUUUUUUCK! I just got pissed off writing that line.

all the money you invested for court costs, etc, that's why marijuana's illegal...plenty of busting and people on deferred sentences and probation for marijuana offenses..which means lotsa drug tests and lotsa court costs..what more could they ask for..