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More Arrests for Pot than Violent Crimes [Infographic]

In the United States, the number of arrests for marijuana possession now exceeds the number of arrests for all violent crimes combined. The Huffington Post infographic below illustrates the surprising statistics provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the past 11 years, the NYPD spent more than one million hours making more than 400,000 arrests for low-level marijuana possession, a new report has found. The report raises questions about the use of police resources, which could likely be better spent addressing serious crimes in the high-crime neighborhoods where many marijuana arrests occur.

Marijuana arrests accounted for more than half of all U.S. drug arrests in 2009, while its use among Americans increased by 8 percent, according to two reports released this week by government officials.

New York, NY: City police made over 46,000 arrests in 2009 for marijuana possession in public, according to statistics from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and analyzed by Queens College sociologist Harry Levine. The annual arrest total is the second highest in the city’s history, and is up over 4,600 percent from 1990, when police reported fewer than 1,000 pot arrests.

Daily News @ http://RevolutionNews.US ~ Michael Lapihuska is facing a sentence that could be as severe as 10 years in prison, not for rape, burglary or assault, but for the possession of a single joint’s worth of marijuana.

Michael suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has used cannabis for many years to combat the symptoms of his illness. After suffering arrests for possession, he moved to California.

There a doctor recommended he take marijuana for his disorder, and he became a legal patient in the state’s medical marijuana program.

U.S. government studies have consistently found that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young blacks or Latinos. Yet, in 2010, the New York Police Department arrested blacks for marijuana possession at seven times the rate of whites, and Latinos at nearly four times the rate of whites. In New York City 87% of the people arrested for marijuana possession are blacks and Latinos.

Article from the Miami Herald concerning the beach arrests.
Miami Beach police respond to videos of confrontation between officers and allegedly violent crowd

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/28/2138333/death-violence-and-angry-m...

Three Liberty High School students were expelled for possession of what police and district officials say they suspect is marijuana on Jan. 13, 20 and 21.School employees found a 15-year-old student in possession of a small amount of marijuana on campus Jan. 13.

Flint decriminalization of marijuana vote only 'symbolic;' arrests will continue

FLINT, MI -- Flint police will continue to arrest people for marijuana possession despite a ballot proposal that voters approved Tuesday, Nov. 6, to decriminalize the drug, according to a statement released by the city Wednesday.