Close Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Law
  • Business
  • Education

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

Ohio GOP Seeking to Change Voter-Approved Adult-Use Cannabis Law

May 30, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Legal Challenge Claiming Cannabis Prohibition is Unconstitutional

May 29, 2025

Montana Gov. Signs Bill Reserving $12M of Cannabis Tax Revenues for ‘Habitat Legacy Account’

May 28, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Sunday, June 1
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram LinkedIn VKontakte
Smoke Professional
  • Home
  • News

    More Than 1,000 Arrested in Sweep of U.K. Weed Grows

    July 8, 2023

    Scotland Calls On UK To End ‘Failed’ Drug War With Decriminalization And Harm Reduction Approach

    July 8, 2023

    Germany’s draft law for first phase of cannabis reform

    July 8, 2023

    High Times Cannabis Cup Illinois: People’s Choice Edition 2023 Kicks Off

    July 8, 2023

    Pennsylvania Committee Advances Expansion to State Medical Cannabis Program

    July 7, 2023
  • Lifestyle

    How Watching the News Can Trigger Anxiety and Panic Attacks

    October 28, 2024

    Record High Cannabis and Hallucinogen Use Among Adults

    October 27, 2024

    Weekend Sleep Catch-Up May Lower Heart Disease Risk by 20%

    October 27, 2024

    Energy Drinks Linked to Poor Sleep Quality and Insomnia

    October 26, 2024

    First Psychedelic Church for Magic Mushrooms

    October 26, 2024
  • Law

    Ohio GOP Seeking to Change Voter-Approved Adult-Use Cannabis Law

    May 30, 2025

    Federal Lawmakers Call for Medicaid Fraud Investigation Into Florida Anti-Cannabis Political Group

    May 26, 2025

    Minnesota Ends Criminal Penalties for Bong Water

    May 23, 2025

    Minnesota Bill to Set Up Adult-Use Cannabis Industry Moves to Governor

    May 22, 2025

    Pennsylvania House Passes Cannabis Legalization Bill

    May 8, 2025
  • Business

    U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Legal Challenge Claiming Cannabis Prohibition is Unconstitutional

    May 29, 2025

    Montana Gov. Signs Bill Reserving $12M of Cannabis Tax Revenues for ‘Habitat Legacy Account’

    May 28, 2025

    Minnesota Tribe Signs Agreements to Open Adult-Use Dispensaries Off Tribal Land

    May 28, 2025

    Washington to Issue New Social Equity Cannabis Licenses This Summer

    May 27, 2025

    DEA Raid Confiscates Over 29,000 Cannabis Plants in New York

    May 26, 2025
  • Education

    CBD and the Aging Population—What Science Says Today

    March 12, 2025

    Wholesale Nootropic Skincare: Boost Your Product Line

    March 10, 2025

    Ideal for Your Business Needs

    March 8, 2025

    A Must-have For Every Smoke Shop

    March 3, 2025

    The Perfect Addition to Your Product Line

    March 1, 2025
Smoke Professional
You are at:Home»News»DEA Destroyed 5.7 Million Marijuana Plants Last Year, But Arrests Continue To Decline, Report Shows
News

DEA Destroyed 5.7 Million Marijuana Plants Last Year, But Arrests Continue To Decline, Report Shows

adminBy adminMay 28, 2023No Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 5.7 million marijuana plants last year, a demonstrable increase that bucks the trend that’s been observed over recent years amid the state legalization movement. Meanwhile, the agency made far fewer cannabis-related arrests in 2022.

DEA’s statistical report for the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP), which was released earlier this spring, revealed the latest enforcement trends, with the total number of seized plants last year at the highest level since 2011.

Marijuana arrests continue to decline, however. In 2022, DEA made 5,061 cannabis-related arrests—down 24 percent compared to the year prior when 6,606 arrests were made.

Morgan Fox, political director of NORML, said that the “reasons we are still seeing relatively high levels of marijuana eradication and interdiction are simple.”

“Despite considerable state-level progress, more than half of all US states continue to ban regulated adult-use cannabis markets,” he said. “Furthermore, the federal government overtaxes state-licensed cannabis businesses and makes it extremely difficult for them to access basic financial services so that they can better compete with unregulated operators.”

“Spending billions of taxpayers’ dollars to enforce federal cannabis prohibition, putting law enforcement officers in unnecessary danger, and hampering the implementation and effectiveness of state-regulated markets are clearly not the answers to this issue,” Fox added. “Rather, the federal and state governments should work toward furthering sensible policies that facilitate regulated cannabis markets and work to repair the harms caused by nearly a century of prohibition.”

Nearly 90 percent of the plants that DEA eradicated—and more than 50 percent of the marijuana-related arrests—were in California, where cannabis is legal but where the majority of jurisdictions in the state ban licensed retailers from operating. That regulatory patchwork has enabled illicit producers to continue to thrive and supply cannabis both inside and outside of the state, making it a key target for federal enforcement.

“California has always exported the majority of its marijuana crop out of state and the adoption of adult-use legalization in the Golden State has done little to change this fact,” California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer said.

While DEA’s eradication program is chopping down large numbers of plants, the decline in arrests is consistent with trends that have been observed over recent years as more states have moved to enact legalization.

An annual report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) that was released in March also showed that federal marijuana trafficking cases continued to decline in 2022, for example.

Legalization advocates have long argued that providing access to regulated marijuana markets for adults would drive down demand for illicit products, translating into fewer arrests.

Federal data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that was released in January also shows that cannabis seizures fell to a record low in Fiscal Year 2022.

A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that was released last year also paints a clearer picture of who is getting caught up in its enforcement activities. At checkpoints across the country, agents are mostly taking small amounts of marijuana from American citizens, rather than making large busts of international cartels like some might assume.

Also, consistent with other studies and federal reports, the analysis revealed a significant decline in cannabis seizures at checkpoints overall since 2016. In 2016, there were 70,058 pounds of marijuana seized at checkpoints by Border Patrol, compared to 30,828 pounds in 2020.

FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program has similarly shown a notable decrease in cannabis “arrests” that are made at the local and state level as more states enact reform. (However, experts have raised questions about the quality of FBI’s data, based on alleged confusion among law enforcement agencies about reporting requirements.)

In another report from last year, the Congressional Research Service said that the spread of legal cannabis states domestically, combined with international reform efforts, has reduced demand for illicit marijuana from Mexico.

As part of its Fiscal Year 2023 performance budget summary submitted to Congress last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also acknowledged that as more marijuana is being produced domestically in the U.S., it’s undermining illicit cannabis trafficking across the southern border.

A study released by the Cato Institute in 2018 found that “state-level marijuana legalization has significantly undercut marijuana smuggling.”

Federal prosecutions of drug-related crimes overall increased in 2019, but cases involving marijuana dropped by more than a quarter, according to an end-of-year report released by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in December.

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

Source link

Arrests Continue DEA Decline Destroyed Marijuana million Plants Report Shows Year
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleLouisiana House Committee Kills Cannabis Legalization Bill
Next Article From the Archives: In Lamu, Nothing Changes but the Moon (1978)
admin
  • Website

Related Posts

DEA Raid Confiscates Over 29,000 Cannabis Plants in New York

May 26, 2025

Arizona Q1 Cannabis Sales Down Nearly 10% from Last Year

May 22, 2025

Report: U.S. Cannabis Sales Reached $30.1 Billion in 2024

May 21, 2025

Comments are closed.

Our Picks

Ohio GOP Seeking to Change Voter-Approved Adult-Use Cannabis Law

May 30, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Legal Challenge Claiming Cannabis Prohibition is Unconstitutional

May 29, 2025

Montana Gov. Signs Bill Reserving $12M of Cannabis Tax Revenues for ‘Habitat Legacy Account’

May 28, 2025

Minnesota Tribe Signs Agreements to Open Adult-Use Dispensaries Off Tribal Land

May 28, 2025
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
Don't Miss
Law

Ohio GOP Seeking to Change Voter-Approved Adult-Use Cannabis Law

By adminMay 30, 20250

Republican lawmakers in Ohio are seeking to make changes to the 2023 cannabis legalization law approved…

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Legal Challenge Claiming Cannabis Prohibition is Unconstitutional

May 29, 2025

Montana Gov. Signs Bill Reserving $12M of Cannabis Tax Revenues for ‘Habitat Legacy Account’

May 28, 2025

Minnesota Tribe Signs Agreements to Open Adult-Use Dispensaries Off Tribal Land

May 28, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Smoke Unlimited about Weed & CBD vaping.

From Our Partners
About Us
About Us

Get all the current news stories, latest trends and legislation regarding cannabidiol, products, usages and its benefits. So don’t miss out any buzz and stay tuned! We offer a minute to minute updates regarding Marijuana industry.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
Our Picks

Ohio GOP Seeking to Change Voter-Approved Adult-Use Cannabis Law

May 30, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects Legal Challenge Claiming Cannabis Prohibition is Unconstitutional

May 29, 2025

Montana Gov. Signs Bill Reserving $12M of Cannabis Tax Revenues for ‘Habitat Legacy Account’

May 28, 2025
Sponsors
Copyright © 2025. SmokeProfessional
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.