Cannabis-Related Arrests Topped a Quarter Million in 2022, According to FBI

Cannabis-related arrests surpassed a quarter of a million in 2022, with law enforcement officials making at least 227,108 arrests for cannabis violations, according to data compiled by the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer and reported by NORML.

Ninety-two percent of the cannabis-related arrests last year were for possession only.

The 2022 total is an increase from 2021, when the FBI reported 219,489 total cannabis-related arrests.

NORML reported that the totals are likely underestimates because “a significant percentage of law enforcement agencies” do not report their data to the FBI. For the year 2022, for example, only 83% of agencies reported their data, according to NORML, which is an increase from 63% of agencies reporting in 2021.

There are currently 23 U.S. states that have passed some form of adult-use cannabis legalization, as well as 39 states with legal medical cannabis programs.

In less than two weeks, on Nov. 7, Ohio voters will decide on Issue 2, an adult-use measure that could make Ohio the 24th U.S. state to legalize.

Despite the widespread state-level policy reform, roughly 30% of all reported drug-related arrests in 2022 were for cannabis, according to the FBI’s data.

“While there has clearly been a long-term decline in the total number of marijuana-related arrests nationwide, it is discouraging that there still remains significant gaps in the available information,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a public statement. “At a time when voters and their elected officials nationwide are re-evaluating state and federal marijuana policies, it is inconceivable that government agencies are unable to produce more explicit data on the estimated costs and scope of marijuana prohibition in America.

“Nonetheless, even from this incomplete data set, it remains clear that marijuana seizures and prosecutions remain a primary driver of drug war enforcement in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to be arrested annually for these violations even though a majority of voters no longer believe that the responsible use of marijuana by adults should be a crime.”