{"id":53626,"date":"2022-03-17T12:20:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T20:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/federal-marijuana-cases-continue-to-decline-with-fewer-than-1000-cannabis-charges-in-2021\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T13:45:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T21:45:46","slug":"federal-marijuana-cases-continue-to-decline-with-fewer-than-1000-cannabis-charges-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/17\/federal-marijuana-cases-continue-to-decline-with-fewer-than-1000-cannabis-charges-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Marijuana Cases Continue To Decline, With Fewer Than 1,000 Cannabis Charges In 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutions over marijuana dropped again in 2021, with fewer than 1,000 people charged in cannabis trafficking cases\u2014yet another sign that the plant is becoming a lower enforcement priority as the legalization movement scores wins in more states.<\/p>\n

There were 996 federal marijuana trafficking cases last year, according to an analysis from the federal U.S. Sentencing Commission (USCC). Those cannabis busts account for 5.7 percent of the total drug-related cases that when through the federal justice system in fiscal year 2021.<\/p>\n

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Methamphetamine was the most common drug type involved in federal drug cases (48% up from 42.2% last year). The federal courts saw a 50% increase in fentanyl cases (to 1,658). Fentanyl cases were 9.5% of federal drug cases\u2014now the fifth most common drug type. pic.twitter.com\/WsV58Rgf0a<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SentencingCommission (@TheUSSCgov) March 16, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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This represents a continuation of a trend that\u2019s been playing out in recent years, especially as more states have move to legalize cannabis and federal officials have seemingly adopted policies placing less emphasis on going after people over marijuana. In 2020, USCC documented 1,118 cannabis cases<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutions of drug-related crimes overall increased in 2019, but\u00a0cases involving marijuana dropped by more than a quarter<\/a>, according to an end-of-year report released by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts that year.<\/p>\n

In contrast, USCC reported that there were more than 7,000 federal marijuana cases in 2012, the year when voters in two states approved adult-use legalization initiatives at the ballot. At that point, marijuana topped the list of drugs that were involved in federal cases; now cannabis is at the bottom of that list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Via USCC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAlthough Congress has failed to amend federal cannabis laws, clearly the attitudes and priorities of federal prosecutors have shifted in the era of state-level marijuana legalization,\u201d NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said<\/a>. \u201cNow it\u2019s time for federal lawmakers to codify these changes in priorities by descheduling marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, the USCC report<\/a> found that the average sentence for a marijuana trafficking case was 30 months\u2014about half of that typically imposed for busts involving cocaine, fentanyl and heroin. Meth-related charges resulted in the highest average sentence at 90 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this downward trend in federal marijuana prosecutions, America\u2019s outdated federal laws are still having a significant and unnecessary impact on real people\u2019s lives,\u201d NORML Political Director Morgan Fox said. \u201cCongress has the opportunity to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLawmakers must continue to build momentum to end our failed marijuana prohibition policies and help those who have been unjustly hurt by them,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWe urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a floor vote on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expunge Act immediately, and sincerely hope that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sticks to his planned April introduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

In general, people who faced drug charges accounted for 31 percent of all federal cases last year, which is five percentage points higher compared to 2020. About half of those who faced drug charges last year were for methamphetamine trafficking.<\/p>\n

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Despite the decrease in the overall caseload, many offense types saw an increase (drug trafficking cases increased by 7.4%; firearms by 8.1%; sex abuse by 20.5%; and child pornography by 18.8%) (see Table 4).<\/p>\n

\u2014 SentencingCommission (@TheUSSCgov) March 16, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Advocates have argued that the year-over-year decline<\/a> in marijuana cases corresponds with the growing number of states that have implemented legalization and provided consumers with legal outlets to purchase the product, and it also reflects a federal deprioritization of pursuing cannabis cases despite ongoing prohibition as the war on marijuana continues to lose voter support.<\/p>\n

A study released by the Cato Institute in 2018 found that \u201cstate-level marijuana legalization has\u00a0significantly undercut marijuana smuggling.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Data from the FBI that was released in late 2020 showed that, for the first time in four years, cannabis arrests declined nationally<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While there might not be a single factor contributing to these trends, it seems likely to continue\u2014both because more states are working to end prohibition and because the federal Justice Department is being led by an attorney general who has repeatedly said that low-level marijuana enforcement is a waste of resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, congressional lawmakers are also taking steps to legalize at the federal level.<\/p>\n

Senate leaders are asking fellow lawmakers to weigh in on the provisions of a bill to federally legalize marijuana<\/a> that they plan to file in the coming weeks that \u201caims to right the wrongs of the past and ensure that the federal government is matching the advancements made in states across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has faced criticism from some advocates over the time it\u2019s taken to get to this stage. But at a press conference last month, he announced that the \u201cgoal\u201d is to formally introduce it in Apri<\/a>l.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the House side, there\u2019s a federal legalization bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), which passed the chamber last session and\u00a0advanced through his committee again<\/a>\u00a0in September. It remains to be seen whether it will move to the floor again before Schumer\u2019s bill is filed.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers recent sent a letter to congressional leadership, demanding that the\u00a0reform legislation be \u201cexpeditiously\u201d taken up<\/a>\u00a0by Congress.<\/p>\n

Also, in November, several Republican members of Congress introduced\u00a0a separate bill to federally legalize and tax marijuana as an alternative<\/a>\u00a0to pending far-reaching Democratic-led reform proposals and scaled-down GOP cannabis descheduling legislation.<\/p>\n

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California Activists Drop 2022 Psilocybin Legalization Ballot Initiative After Falling Short Of Signature Requirement<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Federal Marijuana Cases Continue To Decline, With Fewer Than 1,000 Cannabis Charges In 2021<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Federal Marijuana Cases Continue To Decline, With Fewer Than 1,000 Cannabis Charges In 2021<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal prosecutions over marijuana dropped again in 2021, with fewer than 1,000 people charged in cannabis trafficking cases\u2014yet another sign that the plant is becoming a lower enforcement priority as the legalization movement scores wins in more states. There were 996 federal marijuana trafficking cases last year, according to anContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":53627,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53628,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53626\/revisions\/53628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}