Myth:
Marijuana-related offenses are not a major cause of arrests in Oregon.
Reality:
Police bust people for marijuana use in Oregon all the time. According to the Oregon State Police, police arrested and issued citations for 12,808 people for marijuana in 2012, the most recent year for which data is available. (Source: Oregon State Police, (PDF) page 4-10).
That’s like one person every 39 minutes. These arrest numbers have risen by 45 percent in recent years, according to a report by the ACLU on state crime reports.
An analysis by the Oregon ACLU of Oregon State Police data (PDF) also found that 90 percent of the marijuana possession incidents in 2010 involved less than one ounce.
Oregonians are constantly being arrested under Oregon’s current, broken drug laws. Learn more about our initiative to legalize and regulate here.