Marijuana-related arrests far outpace arrests for other drug-related violations in jurisdictions where its possession and use remain criminally prohibited under state law.
In five states (Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Wisconsin), more than half of all drug-related arrests reported by state and local law enforcement agencies in 2024 were cannabis-related, according to data provided by the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.
In nine other states (Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming), 40 percent or more of all drug-related arrests were for marijuana-related violations. In the District of Columbia, where adult-use is legal but public use remains a criminal — not a civil — violation, 42 percent of all drug-related arrests were marijuana-related.
In these states, marijuana-related arrests are almost exclusively for low-level possession. In Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming more than 97 percent of all marijuana-related arrests in 2024 were for minor possession, not trafficking or sales.
By comparison, marijuana-related arrests typically comprise only a small percentage of arrests in states where personal possession has been legalized. For instance, in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Vermont, and Washington, marijuana-related arrests comprised fewer than five percent of all drug-related arrests in 2024. By contrast, marijuana-related arrests comprised over one-third of all drug-related arrests in Illinois, despite lawmakers legalizing the adult-use market in 2019.
Nationwide, state and local police made over 204,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2024, most of which were for simple possession. The states with the most marijuana possession arrests were Texas (26,602), Tennessee (11,574), and Pennsylvania (11,154).
Commenting on the data, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “Marijuana-related prosecutions remain the primary driver of drug war enforcement in those states where cannabis remains criminalized, whereas, with few exceptions, marijuana-related arrests fall precipitously in jurisdictions that legalize and regulate the adult-use cannabis market.
“The perpetuation of cannabis criminalization, and the vigorous enforcement of this policy by law enforcement in prohibition states, is a financially burdensome and terribly destructive policy that disrupts lives and has lasting consequences. Low-level marijuana offenders, many of them younger, poor, and people of color, should not be saddled with an arrest, a criminal record, and with the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it for engaging in behavior that is now legally regulated for adults in nearly half the states in this country and that most Americans nationwide no longer believe ought to be a crime.”
A state-by-state breakdown of 2024 marijuana arrest data is available from NORML.
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