Steep Hill
Member
Having a criminal record may be a lot more common than you think; there are approximately 70 million people in the U.S. with a criminal record (Forbes, June 26, 2020). Mass incarceration is a global pandemic in which countries like El Salvador, Rwanda, Brazil, and many others are struggling to keep their justice system from crumbling (The Sentencing Project, 2022). Unfortunately, at the top of this list is the U.S. - the global leader in mass incarceration:
The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories (Prison Policy Initiative, 2020).
It is important to note that the underlying causes and factors that play into mass incarceration are racially, socio-economically, and even politically motivated. While these topics are crucial to the mass incarceration debate, this piece will solely focus on the misconceptions regarding Cannabis Sativa and their connections to mass incarceration rates.
The classification of this Cannabis Sativa as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act has forever altered and permanently damaged a significant number of American lives. To date, 37 U.S. states have legalized medical marijuana; 18 U.S. states have legalized recreational marijuana. In fact, with the exception of just four states, every other U.S. state has either legalized or decriminalized this Schedule 1 drug. Yet, in 2019 alone, 35.0% of drug arrests were for marijuana offenses -- a total of 545,602 out of 1,558,862 drug-related arrests; of those, an estimated 500,395 arrests (32.1% of all drug arrests) were for marijuana possession alone (Real Reporting Foundation, 2022).
Currently, U.S. States spend a total average of $3,613,969,972 in taxpayer money enforcing marijuana laws each year (American Civil Liberties Union, 2020). Despite the push for federal legalization and clear funding for the Cannabis Sativa field itself, an estimated 40,000 civilians remain unjustly incarcerated due to marijuana-related offenses in the U.S. (Forbes, June 26, 2020).
The slower we are to adapt to changing legislation, the longer we unjustly ostracize those 40,000 people and those who “fall through the cracks” of our justice system.
Sources:
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/22/four-in-ten-u-s-drug-arrests-in-2018-were-for-marijuana-offenses-mostly-possession/
https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state
https://www.aclu.org/gallery/marijuana-arrests-numbers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanoleck/2020/06/26/with-40000-americans-incarcerated-for-marijuana-offenses-the-cannabis-industry-needs-to-step-up-activists-said-this-week/?sh=6970324ec16f
The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories (Prison Policy Initiative, 2020).
It is important to note that the underlying causes and factors that play into mass incarceration are racially, socio-economically, and even politically motivated. While these topics are crucial to the mass incarceration debate, this piece will solely focus on the misconceptions regarding Cannabis Sativa and their connections to mass incarceration rates.
The classification of this Cannabis Sativa as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act has forever altered and permanently damaged a significant number of American lives. To date, 37 U.S. states have legalized medical marijuana; 18 U.S. states have legalized recreational marijuana. In fact, with the exception of just four states, every other U.S. state has either legalized or decriminalized this Schedule 1 drug. Yet, in 2019 alone, 35.0% of drug arrests were for marijuana offenses -- a total of 545,602 out of 1,558,862 drug-related arrests; of those, an estimated 500,395 arrests (32.1% of all drug arrests) were for marijuana possession alone (Real Reporting Foundation, 2022).
Currently, U.S. States spend a total average of $3,613,969,972 in taxpayer money enforcing marijuana laws each year (American Civil Liberties Union, 2020). Despite the push for federal legalization and clear funding for the Cannabis Sativa field itself, an estimated 40,000 civilians remain unjustly incarcerated due to marijuana-related offenses in the U.S. (Forbes, June 26, 2020).
The slower we are to adapt to changing legislation, the longer we unjustly ostracize those 40,000 people and those who “fall through the cracks” of our justice system.
Sources:
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/22/four-in-ten-u-s-drug-arrests-in-2018-were-for-marijuana-offenses-mostly-possession/
https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state
https://www.aclu.org/gallery/marijuana-arrests-numbers
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanoleck/2020/06/26/with-40000-americans-incarcerated-for-marijuana-offenses-the-cannabis-industry-needs-to-step-up-activists-said-this-week/?sh=6970324ec16f
