According to analysis from the federal U.S. Sentencing Commission (USCC), federal prosecutions over cannabis have continued to decline, dropping again in 2021.
Fewer than 1,000 people were charged in cannabis trafficking cases according to the data.
There were 996 federal marijuana trafficking cases last year. 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. In 2020, USCC documented 1,118 cannabis cases.
Federal prosecutions of drug-related crimes overall increased in 2019, but cases involving marijuana dropped by more than a quarter, according to a report released by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts that year.
In 2012, the USCC reported that there were more than 7,000 federal marijuana cases. This was the same year when voters in two states approved adult-use legalization initiatives at the ballot.
“Although 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,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Now it’s time for federal lawmakers to codify these changes in priorities by descheduling marijuana.”
“Despite this downward trend in federal marijuana prosecutions, America’s outdated federal laws are still having a significant and unnecessary impact on real people’s lives,” NORML Political Director Morgan Fox said. “Congress has the opportunity to change that.”
“Lawmakers must continue to build momentum to end our failed marijuana prohibition policies and help those who have been unjustly hurt by them,” Fox said.
“We 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.”
