Marijuana Arrests Now Exceed Arrests For Violent Crime

[The Straight Story]

Marijuana Arrests Now Exceed Arrests For Violent Crime

In 2011, arrests for marijuana exceeded arrests for violent crime by more than 100,000, according to a report from the FBI.

Though marijuana laws have become liberalized — with 18 states legalizing the drug for medicinal use and two now explicitly allowing recreational use as the result of ballot initiatives — marijuana arrests have doubled since 1980, according to this analysis from the Huffington Post:



Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, presenting a law-enforcement challenge. Late last year, President Obama said that his administration would not go after recreational users of the drug.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Obama said. “It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”

http://www.nationalmemo.com/marijuana-arrests-now-exceed-arrests-for-violent-crime/

[xchrom]

1. a waste of time and dollars. nt

[The Straight Story]

2. Thought you were talking about one of my ex's for a sec

LOL couldn't resist

[xchrom]

6. what a coinky dink - i've had one of those too -- wonder if they know each other? nt

[grahamhgreen]

16. And lives.

[graham4anything]

3. Violent crime has dropped to low levels in many places(inc. NYC),therefore, it's bad analogy by huff

[hobbit709]

5. That still doesn't excuse the arrests

[graham4anything]

8. Looks like the rate for pot arrests topped violent crime in 2000 and is going down every year

So one could have written this article in 2001 as that is when pot arrests went higher than violent crime arrest.

this is a poorly written article, as the graph shows what the headline/article doesn't

It would be like saying more people watched Homeland in 2012 than the OJ Simpson trial

or saying the Atlanta Braves have so many more fans & wise in 2012 than in 1980, than the Montreal Expos had in each of those years
(being that the Expos don't exist anymore).

[hobbit709]

9. Still doesn't excuse arresting someone for pot every 42 seconds.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/persons-arrested/persons-arrested

[Bluenorthwest]

21. The article is just fine, you simply don't care for the reality of what is happening. Defend this:

“From 2006 to 2008, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession offenses in California’s 25 largest cities at at four, five, six, seven and even twelve times the rate of whites, according to a report released today by researchers at the Queens College, City University of New York and Shenandoah University in Virginia.

Among some of the California cities profiled:

* The City of Los Angeles, with ten percent of California’s population, arrested blacks for marijuana possession at seven times the rate of whites.

* San Diego, the second largest city in California, arrested blacks for marijuana possession at nearly six times the rate of whites.

* In Pasadena, blacks are 11% of the population but 49% of the people arrested for marijuana possession. Pasadena arrested blacks at twelve and a half times the rate of whites.
http://blog.norml.org/2010/10/22/california-study-say-blacks-disproportionately-arrested-for-minor-marijuana-crimes/

Are you really comfortable with those statistics? Really?

[bagimin]

29. Thats right

even a quick glance at this graph shows that arrests peaked in the presidents second year then stabilized and are now dropping like a rock. thank god.

[Recursion]

20. Because we locked people up before they moved on from pot

That's the argument, at least

[malaise]

4. How else can they lock up black men and enrich themselves

via the private prison system

[Cirque du So-What]

15. Also

If prosecutors can wrangle a felony conviction, that individual's voting rights are curtailed...in some states FOREVER.

[geckosfeet]

7. This is a bad joke.

[Kip Humphrey]

10. The Prison Industrial Complex has quotas to meet and lives to ruin for no good reason but

PROFIT!

[stultusporcos]

11. Yup profit It is cheaper and easier to lock up the non-violent than the violent ones

The private prison industry needs to be shut down.

[Granny M]

12. Potheads are low hanging fruit.

Disgusting.

[ananda]

19. Agree.

The privatization of all our public commons is such a disgrace!

[stultusporcos]

22. The privatization of all our public commons needs to STOP

Government is not a profit center.

[RoccoR5955]

13. +1 n/t

[green for victory]

14. check out what is going on in California--Federal Medical Marijuana Prisoners and Cases

http://www.canorml.org/costs/federal_medical_marijuana_prisoners_and_cases

Pending Cases in California and Elsewhere

January 13, 2013 - Matthew R. Davies, 34, of Stockton is being offered a plea deal with a five year mandatory minimum sentence. According to the New York Times, federal agents raided two of Mr. Davies’s dispensaries and a warehouse, where 2,000 marijuana plants were grown, in 2011. The federal authorities said they stumbled across the operation after two men were spotted apparently breaking into Mr. Davies’s 30,000-square-foot Stockton warehouse. The police said they smelled marijuana plants. Federal agents conducted a raid and confiscated 1,962 plants and 200 pounds of marijuana.

Also see The Atlantic story on Davies's bust. and supporters' website KeepMattFree.com

Lynn Farrell Smith, 62, of Stockton pleaded guilty in a Sacramento federal court to manufacturing and distribution charges that can send him to federal prison for five years. He was a partner in the venture that included a Stockton marijuana cultivation warehouse and seven dispensaries, including four in Sacramento.

January 9, 2013 - Former South Lake Tahoe medical marijuana dispensary operator Gino DiMatteo pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, as part of a plea agreement. On August 31, 2012, US agents say they found 5 pounds of processed marijuana and 15 pounds of “shake,” at DeMatteo's home. Also found were various edible marijuana products, a scale, pay/owe sheets and a heat sealing machine. DiMatteo listed himself as receiving $7,000 biweekly in one of the documents found. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on April 17. The maximum penalty for possession with the intent to distribute marijuana is 30 years in prison. Source.

December 11, 2012 - Bryan Smith, 28, of Elk Grove, pleaded guilty to federal drug charges stemming from owning and operating the R & R Wellness marijuana dispensary formerly located at 75 Quita Court in Sacramento and growing marijuana related to the dispensary operation.

According to the terms of the plea agreement, Smith agreed to a sentence of not less than 5 years in prison and not more than 7 years and 3 months in prison. His sentencing date is scheduled for Jan. 25.

Smith is the last defendant to plead guilty in the case. Co-defendants Daniel Goldsmith, 27, Galt- Elk Grove; Robert Klaus, 36, San Diego; Ryder Phillips, 27, Galt; Kelly Smith, 55, Elk Grove and Bruce Goldsmith, 61.

All are pending sentencing. Read more.

October 19, 2012 - Raymond Arthur Gentile, 51, and Gustavo Angel Salinas, 24, are accused of various crimes related to marijuana cultivation and distribution for involvement with ANP Collective in Bakersfield. Gentile, who was arrested in San Bernardino County after a high-speed chase with California Highway Patrol officers, also faces a federal firearm charge. The case began after a customer accused them of assault with a baseball bat and a Glock handgun after he allegedly stole one gram of marijuana during a purchase. Agents seized 170 marijuana plants, 25 pounds of processed marijuana, nearly 3,000 pills, a 12-gauge shotgun and more than $68,000 in cash. Gentile and Salinas each face a maximum of 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Read more.

October 11, 2012 - OAKLAND SUES FEDS WHILE LONG BEACH RAIDS 7 DISPENSARIES
In contrasting moves, the city of Oakland has sued the federal government to stop its forfeiture actions against city-regulated dispensaries, while Long Beach has joined the feds to arrest 40 dispensary workers and is threatening to arrest more.

October 12, 2012 - Aaron Sandusky, whose G3 Holistic collective had storefronts in Upland, Colton and Moreno Valley, was found guilty on two felony counts of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute charges. The jury deadlocked on four other charges having to do with operating a location involved with drugs. Judge Anderson declared a mistrial on those counts. Sandusky was sentenced to 10 years in prison on January 7, 2013. He plans to appeal. Read more.

Sandusky's brother Keith and four other former employees of G3 Holistic have pleaded guilty in the case. They are awaiting sentencing. G3 medical marijuana co-defendents all facing prison time

G3 co-founder John Leslie Nuckolls II testified at Aaron's trial, a condition of his plea bargain. Nuckolls testified he had been friends with Sandusky for about 11 years. In 2009 he approached Sandusky, who had real estate and broker experience, about opening a medical marijuana dispensary.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Robinson asked Nuckolls if, in June 2009, he was working as a confidential informant for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

"I was not," Nuckolls, who added that he talked with the agency, along with San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office and the DEA, and worked with them, but never worked as an informant.

Robinson then pointed out that Nuckolls had an agreement with the DA's Office at that time and after helping them with cases had a felony charge dismissed. Read more.

September 27, 2012 - 150 agents from US Homeland Security (!), FBI, DEA, CHP and Sonoma sheriff's deputies wearing military garb and were accompanied by an armored military vehicle stormed from house to house, pulling up backyard gardens, in an impoverished section of Santa Rosa. Read more.

On September 25, Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the Live Love Collective in Anaheim.

Meanwhile, five medical marijuana patients and caregivers from Michigan will be sentenced in federal court next week. Read more.

September 25 - Federal authorities took legal action against 71 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles County, including all known collectives in downtown and Eagle Rock part of an ongoing campaign to crack down on medical marijuana.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, officials sent warning letters to 68 pot dispensaries, filed forfeiture lawsuits against three properties that house such businesses and served search warrants at three additional facilities. Read more.

7/17/2012 - Federal agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in unincorporated Lake Elsinore, for the second time in three months. Drug Enforcement Agency agents seized marijuana from Compassionate Patients Association, in the 17500 block of Grand Avenue, and told them to shut down. No arrests were made.

7/16/2012 - Mark Bagdasarian, the Clovis pot dispensary owner who already is facing marijuana possession and distribution allegations, is now being hit with federal money laundering charges, even as HSBC bank apologizes to a Senate committee for laundering billions in Mexican cartel drug assets (but faces no criminal charges).

7/12/2012 - The federal government filed property forfeiture suits aimed at closing Harborside, the foremost medical cannabis dispensary still operating in Northern California. In addition to its flagship Oakland location, Harborside operates a branch in San Jose. The landlords of both received forfeiture notices from the DOJ. Read more.

7/11/2012 - A federal search warrant was served at the Pacific Collective in Venice; the facility is now closed.

The federal government has sent a letter to the landlord for Golden State Patient Care Collective in Colfax, threatening him with forfeiture and criminal charges. "Once again, the DOJ is violating AG Holder's own supposed policy by targeting not rogue criminal profiteers, but a well-run, respected dispensary that is abiding in full accordance with California law," said Dale Gieringer of CalNORML. "The DOJ's real agenda is to try to destroy the most successful leaders in the medical cannabis industry because they prove that lawful access to cannabis works, contrary to the government's bankrupt policy of prohibition."

In June, federal authorities filed two asset forfeiture lawsuits against properties housing three pot shops in Santa Fe Springs and sent warning letters to 34 people associated with allegedly illegal marijuana operations in Los Angeles County. The warning letters targeted known marijuana stores in Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, South El Monte, La Mirada, Diamond Bar, Artesia, Paramount, South Gate, City of Commerce, Agoura Hills and Malibu.

5/4/2012 - The DEA, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office, IRS and Santa Barbara police, served search warrants at several collectives and gardens in Santa Barbara county, and filed three forfeiture proceedings in court. "All known marijuana stores in Santa Barbara County are now the subject of federal enforcement actions," said to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the U.S, Attorney's Office, the asset-forfeiture lawsuits were filed against Miramar Collective on Ortega Hill Road in Summerland, Pacific Coast Collective, at 331 N. Milpas St. in Santa Barbara, whose operator is currently being prosecuted in state court, and an indoor marijuana farm in the 300 block of East Haley Street in Santa Barbara.

Warrants were also served Wednesday at Pacific Coast Collective, and the residence of operator Charles Jeff Restivo in Carpinteria, who is already facing felony charges related to the dispensary. Read more.

4/25/2012 - Federal prosecutors filed forfeiture actions on April 23 against The Green Door Wellness Center and the Green Tiger Collective, both in Novato. The Green Tiger has closed, but the Green Door is fighting to stay open. Read more.

2/29/2012 - US attorneys have sent landlord letters to over 50 more dispensaries in the Inland Empire area (San Bernardino, Fontana, Colton and Bloomington), where local officials have been pressing to close them. In addition, Cal NORML has learned of new landlord letters in Mendocino, apparently targeted at facilities within 1,000 feet of schools or playgrounds.

On February 28, Benjamin Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, vowed a new crackdown on large medical marijuana grows. In an appearance at the Sacramento Press club, Wagner said in the coming months a new focus will be made on pot farms with tens of thousands of plants in the central valley, from Stanislaus County down to Kern County," Wagner said. When asked if he'd ever smoked marijuana himself, Wagner replied, "I'll say I went to college."

That day, U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. dismissed one of five suits that had been filed in federal courts last fall in a bid to win legal support for medical marijuana use in California and other states. Burrell's order came in a suit filed in federal court in Sacramento last November on behalf of the El Camino Wellness Center and Ryan Landers, a 40-year-old Sacramento man who uses medical marijuana to alleviate suffering from AIDS and other illnesses.

More? You bet there's a lot more--
http://www.canorml.org/costs/federal_medical_marijuana_prisoners_and_cases

they are protecting their patent vigorously

[bemildred]

17. Potheads are the only hope for our prison-industrial complex. nt

[marble falls]

18. The privatized prison industry doesn't care what your "crime" is, they need bodies to incarcerate.

[truth2power]

23. I wouldn't sit on a jury for someone charged with MJ possession. I think if

more people did this it would send an important message.

Or....one could engage in jury nullification. Whichever.

[morningfog]

24. Nullification is the far better course. If you don't sit, someone else will who may be willing

to convict.

[truth2power]

28. I think you're correct on that. I was just wondering how that works...

If it's an open and shut case do you just "out" yourself when the jury goes into deliberation, and say you have no intention of convicting on MJ possession, no matter what? Wouldn't that be a mistrial if the judge found out you had no intention to convict from the get-go?

Or do you try to find a loophole to assert that he's not guilty?

I've always been confused about that.

[morningfog]

30. As a juror, you can argue some nuance of the defense, maintain that it is not "beyond a reasonable

doubt." Or, you can stand up and say, I will not convict on this charge, and try to bring others along with you. If you stand your ground, but others refuse to nullify, it will result in a hung jury/mistrial. Depending on the jurisdiction, that could be as good as an acquittal.

The judge is not allowed to inquire or find out why jurors are deciding the way they are. It is supposed to be a "closed box," even from the judge, unless something improper is done. A juror should report to a judge if they communicated with either side, read something outside trial about the trial, was bribed, etc.

Nullification is not the same as those violations.

[truth2power]

36. Thank you for that explanation. I'll tuck it away...

You never know when I, or someone I know, may need to use it.

[Hotler]

25. And the crooks on Wall St. continue to walk free. n/t

[jsr]

26. World-class stupidity.

[1StrongBlackMan]

27. While I understand the sentiment behind this OP ...

it lacks any real meaning because it lacks any consideration of the falling violent crime rates and the effect of that liberalization of MJ laws.

With that said, I support the full legalization of MJ.

[farminator3000]

32. more liberal laws should mean less MJ arrests, but look at Cali (see post #31)

and falling crime- (also medical treatment improving is one factor)

According to FBI analysis, the homicide drop would mean that nearly 280 fewer Americans were murdered last year, which would be the lowest homicide death toll since the mid-1950s.

LaFree said a combination of factors – from a weak economy and an aging population to increased immigration and a more robust police presence across the country – have contributed to the drop.

“One of the responses of society is to pull together when there’s a huge crisis and a feeling of great difficulty,” LaFree said, adding that the economic climate may have contributed to this peaceful trend.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/11/12170947-fbi-violent-crime-rates-in-the-us-drop-approach-historic-lows?lite

***

Another possible reason for reduced crime is that potential victims may have become better at protecting themselves by equipping their homes with burglar alarms, putting extra locks on their cars and moving into safer buildings or even safer neighborhoods. We have only the faintest idea, however, about how common these trends are or what effects on crime they may have.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576345553135009870.html

[farminator3000]

31. the worst thing is this 1st article is 4 years old

There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.” The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of the world’s people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.

What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

-skip-

The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. “This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289

***

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8731
There are two very large and influential prison companies in the United States who are manipulating the system to make sure they have plenty of business: The GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). In the first part of this two-part series, I will explore The GEO Group's influence peddling; next week, I will look at CCA.

-skip-


According to California-drug-treatment.com: "Justice statistics also show that 47.5 percent of drug arrests in 2007 were for marijuana offenses. Also, almost 60 percent of state prison inmates who are serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence or of any significant selling activity." One can imagine that The GEO Group and others in the industry would be very concerned about the myriad of legislative bills and ballot initiatives floating around the country that threaten to legalize marijuana and reduce their number of paying "beds."

And The GEO Group does do a brisk business, mainly through the federal and state governments. According to a thorough report, "Gaming the System," which was issued last year by the Justice Policy Institute, the "state and federal prison population increased 722 percent between 1970 and 2009," while as "of 2010, GEO contracts with 13 states, the Federal Bureau of Prison, the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2010, 66 percent ($842 million) of GEO's $1.27 billion in revenue was from U.S. corrections contracts. Of the $842 million in revenue, 47 percent came from corrections contracts with 11 states."

[williamc1967txlib]

33. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

Honestly, our drug laws need reform ASAP. There are too many people in our prisons as it is, and we can't afford to go on like this. But I'm not expecting any major changes any time soon.

[FlyingTooLow]

34. A pot bust is one of the easiest and safest to make.

Law enforcement needs to re-direct its focus on crime...to those that are REAL crimes.

I was in Federal Prison for 5 years for a marijuana offense. No, it was not for simple possession. I was arrested aboard a Lockheed PV2 in Marianna, Florida...charged and convicted for conspiracy to import and distribute 12,000 pounds of marijuana.

As my years in prison rolled by, what I did see were armed bank robbers, coming and going...while I still sat there for marijuana. Most of the bank robbers only spent 17 to 24 months. But, I and my fellow 'drug offenders,'...we stayed for YEARS.

I wrote about the escapades that led to my incarceration. I admit, I had a great time. No one was injured, no one was killed, firearms were not involved...there were no victims.
We were Americans...doing what Americans do best...living free.

The book: Shoulda Robbed a Bank

I would be honored by your review.

[Rex]

35. The completely lost War on Drugs

ultra stupid edition!

[TeamPooka]

37. k+r!