NCJ Number
241895
Date Published
October 2010
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This report presents data on trends in arrest rates for marijuana possession in California counties, the age and racial breakdowns of arrestees, and implications are drawn for law and law enforcement policies for marijuana possession in California.
Abstract
Trends in the local arrest rates for marijuana possession, as well as the age and racial breakdown of arrestees, reveal an erratic and inexplicable pattern of county-based marijuana-possession enforcement. In many major counties, arrests surge and plummet by 40 percent or more from year to year. In other cases, counties with similar demographics have arrest rates that may vary by 10-fold or more. Apparently the odds of being arrested for marijuana possession is a function of geography, race, age, year, and local practices. These findings have significant implications for both the current criminalization scheme for marijuana possession and proposals to legalize the drug. The shift by law enforcement toward a generally greater rate of arrest for marijuana possession comes at a time when all other arrest categories are declining, which seems to defy both sensible policing priorities and voter preferences expressed in Proposition 36 and many local ordinances that give low priority to possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. It is not clear why police agencies are focusing more resources on small-quantity marijuana enforcement when more serious crimes are going unsolved, local jails and State prisons are overcrowded, and harder drugs present more of a menace. Current efforts to legalize marijuana should be viewed as an opportunity for a comprehensive review of California's flawed and inconsistent enforcement of the drug's criminalization. Current arbitrary, biased, and increasing rates of arrest for possession of small quantities of marijuana indicate the need for law reform, including legalization, but only after careful planning and design. 5 tables, 3 figures, and 3 references