The annual number of defendants federally prosecuted for marijuana trafficking violations has fallen 95 percent since 2012 and now stands at a historic low, according to data provided by the United States Sentencing Commission.
Federal law enforcement officials in 2025 charged fewer than 400 people with marijuana trafficking, the lowest total ever. Overall, only two percent of all federal drug trafficking prosecutions in 2025 were specific to cannabis.
By comparison, federal prosecutors sentenced nearly 7,000 people for marijuana trafficking in 2012. That November, Colorado and Washington became the first two states to adopt laws regulating the adult-use marijuana market. The annual number of marijuana-related trafficking prosecutions has consistently declined since then, falling below 4,000 in 2015 and below 1,000 in 2019.
The dramatic decline in trafficking prosecutions mimics a similar decade-long decline in marijuana seizures at the southern border. In 2023, federal law enforcement agents intercepted a record low 61,000 pounds of marijuana at the border. That figure represents a 98 percent decline in marijuana-related seizure activity since 2013.
Commenting on the data, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “These plunging numbers are further evidence that legally regulated state cannabis markets are effectively disrupting international marijuana markets and allowing federal prosecutors to focus their resources targeting other, arguably more serious criminal activities.”
Among all people charged with federal crimes in 2025, 24 percent were prosecuted for drug-related violations. Of those, nearly half of all federal drug offenders were prosecuted for methamphetamine-related activities.
Additional information is available from the USSC fact-sheet, Drug Trafficking.
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