Number of Marijuana Citations and Arrests in Oregon Each Year
Some district attorneys in Oregon say they don’t arrest or sentence people for marijuana offenses. They say that possession of one ounce isn’t treated like a crime in Oregon (even though buying or selling it is).
This is an increase over the 12,808 listed as arrested or cited by the Oregon State Police in 2012 (page 4-10). There have been more than 115,000 arrests and citations over the last ten years, wasting time and resources better spent on more serious and violent crimes. The Oregonian recently published an article detailing how Oregon had one of the biggest rates of marijuana “possession arrests as a percent of all arrests.” It’s time that we stopped wasting police resources on marijuana offenses and refocused police resources on more serious matters such as finding missing children and solving rape and murder cases.
The Better Approach to Marijuana
Treating marijuana use as a crime has failed. It fuels drug cartel violence and doesn’t protect children. And Oregon has wasted far too many resources that could be better spent on higher priorities like serious crime, schools, youth prevention and mental health.
