According to a new report from the F.B.I., arrests for cannabis are on the rise. This despite legalization happening across the country. As of right now, there is a cannabis arrest ever 48 seconds in the country.
The increase in marijuana arrests—659,700 in 2017, compared to 653,249 in 2016—is driven by enforcement against people merely possessing the drug as opposed to selling or growing it, the data shows.
Last year, there were 599,282 marijuana possession arrests in the country, up from 587,516 in 2016. Meanwhile, busts for cannabis sales and manufacturing dropped, from 65,734 in 2016 to 60,418 in 2017.
Overall, marijuana arrests made up 40.4% of the nation’s 1,632,921 drug arrests in 2017.
Drug arrests as a whole also increased last year, up from 1,572,579 in 2016.
There is now a drug bust every 19 seconds in the U.S.
Per: Forbes
