Marijuana arrests are still the engine of the war on drugs in prohibition states

Marijuana arrests remain the house special on America’s tired drug-war menu, and the latest FBI data doesn’t just hint at it—it shouts. In states that still criminalize cannabis, police are hauling in people mostly for possession, not kingpin theatrics. We’re talking handcuffs for a baggie. A new NORML analysis of FBI numbers lays it out: marijuana arrests dominate the ledger in prohibition states, while legal markets elsewhere see those figures collapse. If you want a headline fit for a neon sign: marijuana arrests, not meth or opioids, are still driving drug war enforcement where cannabis remains illegal. That’s the story. The rest is gravy—bitter, bureaucratic gravy.

Where cannabis dominates drug enforcement

NORML zeroed in on 14 states with either outright prohibition or only limited medical programs. In five of them, more than half of all drug-related arrests in 2024 were for marijuana. In the other nine, cannabis was the biggest slice—over 40 percent—of the total drug arrest pie. Read that again. Then look at the map in your mind and ask what exactly we’re accomplishing by cuffing people for possession while fentanyl ravages communities and budgets groan under the weight of paperwork and jail costs. The data-heavy truth is simple and ugly, so let’s set it down clean.

• Marijuana was over 50% of drug arrests in: Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Wisconsin.
• Marijuana was over 40% (a plurality) of drug arrests in: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming.

In several of these places, the arrests aren’t about trafficking or sales. They’re about possession—pure and simple. Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming? In each, more than 97 percent of cannabis busts were for possession. Meanwhile, in states that legalized and regulate adult-use marijuana—Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington—marijuana arrests make up fewer than five percent of drug-related arrests. As NORML’s Paul Armentano put it, enforcement where cannabis is criminalized is financially burdensome and socially destructive; young people, the poor, and people of color eat the worst of it. Or in plainer street English: we’re burning cash and futures for a policy most Americans don’t even believe in anymore.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program covers 95.6 percent of the U.S. population and logged more than 14 million criminal offenses in 2024. Within that mountain, marijuana possession arrests tallied 187,792 last year, with another 16,244 for sales or manufacturing. That’s a slight dip from 2023, but the signal is stubborn: of all drug possession arrests nationwide, 27 percent were for marijuana—the single largest category among listed substances. And yes, the data’s got warts. Some agencies don’t report. Methodologies change. One Maryland department even fed the FBI cannabis citations as arrests in a previous year—garbage in, garbage out. But the broad strokes don’t change: where cannabis is legal, arrests plummet. Where it’s illegal, the drug war keeps chewing the same bone.

So what do we do with this? We stop pretending cannabis criminalization is a deterrent and call it what it is: a policy choice that diverts cops, courts, and cash toward low-level possession. We acknowledge the market is evolving—fast—and that the real fights now are about rules, not reefer madness. Food and beverage giants are already pressing Congress to restrict hemp-derived intoxicants, a corporate power play summed up in Major Association Of Corporations Including Coca-Cola, Nestlé And General Mills Urge Congress To Ban Intoxicating Hemp Products. Yet the 2018 Farm Bill’s architects say the legality of intoxicating hemp wasn’t some accident—see Legalizing Intoxicating Hemp Products Wasn’t A ‘Loophole’ But Was Intentional, Expert Who Helped Draft Farm Bill Says. Consumers, meanwhile, are voting with their glasses and their sleep trackers; Drinking Cannabis Beverages Reduces Alcohol Use And Improves Sleep, Stress And Mood, New Study Shows. And beyond cannabis, the research squeeze continues elsewhere: Psilocybin Use Has ‘Surged’ But Federal Law Is A ‘Major Barrier’ To Research, Study Published By American Medical Association Says. Different substances, same story: policy drives outcomes more than morality plays ever will. If you want to navigate this shifting landscape with clarity—and something reliably excellent in your jar—finish this read and then visit our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.