MarijuanainMichigan

Arrests,Usage,andRelatedData
JonGettman,Ph.D. TheBulletinofCannabisReform www.drugscience.org 10/19/2009

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Introduction Thisstatereportispartofacomprehensivepresentationofnational,state,county,andlocalleveldata onmarijuanaarrestsintheUnitedStates.TheprimaryreportinthiscollectionisMarijuanaArrestsin theUnitedStates(2007).1AdditionaldetailsonmarijuanaarrestsandrelatedtopicsinMichiganare availableintheMarijuanaPolicyAlmanac2,fromwhichthedatapresentedbelowhasbeenexcerpted. ArresttotalsarebasedonUniformCrimeReporting(UCR)programdata;localdatamaydifferdueto variousreasons,includingreportingproceduresanddataavailability. Therewere19,691arrestsformarijuanaoffensesinMichiganin2007,representinganarrestrateof196 per100,000,whichranksMichiganatnumber44inthenation.Therewereanestimated998,000past yearmarijuanausersinMichiganduring2007.Reconcilingthisestimatewiththenumberofarrestsfor marijuanaoffensesprovidesanarrestrateof1,973per100,000users,whichranksMichiganatnumber 45inthenation. Intermsofoverallseverityofmaximumsentencesformarijuanapossession,Michiganranksnumber19 inthenation(basedonpenaltiesforafirstoffense).Whenitcomestopenaltiesforjustunder1ounce ofmarijuana,Michiganisrankedatnumber3,alongwith17otherstates(becauseofsimilarities betweenstatesthereareonly12rankingsinthiscategory).Herearethepenaltiesforpossessionof variousamountsofmarijuanainMichigan: Amount Max.Sentence Max.Fine 1Ounce* 1year $2,000 2Ounces 1year $2,000 3Ounces 1year $2,000 4Ounces 1year $2,000 (*Tosimplifycomparisons,forsomestatesthiscategorycoversamountsjustunder1ounce) Marijuanapossessionarrestsaccountedfor84%ofallmarijuanaarrestsinMichiganduring2007. (Nationally,marijuanapossessionarrestsaccountfor89%ofallmarijuanaarrests.)Therewere16,512 arrestsformarijuanapossessioninMichiganin2007,and3,179arrestsformarijuanasales.Thearrest rateformarijuanapossessioninMichiganwas164per100,000for2007,whilethearrestratefor marijuanasaleswas32.Marijuanaarrestsalsoaccountedfor56%ofalldrugarrestsinMichiganduring 2007.

1 2

http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr7/bcr7_index.html http://www.drugscience.org/States/US/US_home.htm

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HereisanoverallscorecardforhowMichiganranksnationallyintermsofmarijuanaarrests,penalties, andmarijuanause.
Category MaximumSentencesforPossession MaximumSentenceforPossessionof1ounce ArrestRateper100,000population ArrestRateper100,000users PastMonthUsers(Pct.) PastYearUsers(Pct.) PastMonthUsersAge12 17(Pct.) PastYearUsersAge12 17(Pct.) Ranking 19 3 44 45 13 11 13 17

ThisreportprovidesasummaryofthefollowingtopicsrelatedtomarijuanaarrestsinMichigan:(1) relatednationaltrends,(2)trendsinMichiganmarijuanaarrestsandmarijuanause,(3)thecostsof marijuanaarrestsinMichigan,(4)statisticsonpastmonthandpastyearmarijuanauseinMichiganby agegroup,(5)countylevelrankingsinmarijuanaarrestsandrates,and(6)drugtreatmentadmissions foralcohol,marijuana,andotherdrugs.Extensivedetailontheseandrelatedsubjects,includinglocal agencymarijuanaarrestdataandhistoricaldata,isavailableintableformatintheonlineMarijuana PolicyAlmanac3forMichiganandotherstates,aswellassimilarnationaldata. 1)BackgroundNationalTrendsinArrestsandMarijuanaUsefrom2003to2007 Whilemarijuanaarrestshaveincreasedsignificantlysincethe1980s,theprevalenceofmarijuanausein theUnitedStateshasremainedessentiallyunchanged. MarijuanaarrestsintheUnitedStatesincreasedfrom755,200in2003to872,720in2007.This representsanaverageannualizedchangeof+2.93%peryear. Historically,marijuanaarrestsintheUnitedStatesincreasedby150%inthe1990s,risingdramatically from287,850in1991to723,627 in2001,anaverageannualizedchangeof8.74%peryear.Duringthis timethenumberofindividualswhoreportedmarijuanauseinnationalsurveysincreasedmodestlyfrom 19.2millionin1991to21millionin2001. Thearrestrateformarijuanaoffenses(possessionandsalescombined)intheUnitedStateshas increasedfrom260per100,000in2003to290in2007.Thisrepresentsanaverageannualizedchange of+2.19%peryear. ThenumberofpastyearmarijuanausersintheUnitedStateshasremainedrelativelystableduringthis period,changingfrom25.5millionannualusersin2003to25.2millionannualusersin2007.The numberofpastmonthusershasalsoremainedthesame,14.6millioninboth2003and2007. Onapercentagebasis,annualmarijuanausewasreportedby10.78%ofthepopulationin2003and 10.22%in2007,whilemonthlyusewasreportedby6.18%in2003and5.92%in2007.

http://www.drugscience.org/States/US/US_home.htm

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Consequently,atthenationalleveloverthelastfiveyears,anincreaseinmarijuanaarrestsof2.93%per yearhasresultedinanaverageannualizeddecreaseinthenumberofannualmarijuanausersof0.21% peryearandasimilardecreaseintheprevalenceofannualmarijuanauseof0.03%peryear. 2)MarijuanaArrestandUseTrendsinMichigan(20032007) MarijuanaarrestsinMichiganincreasedfrom17,720in2003to19,691in2007.Thearrestratein2003 was176per100,000whilein2007itwas196. Comparedtoa2.93%averageannualincreaseinmarijuanaarrestsnationally,marijuanaarrestsin Michiganincreasedby2.13%peryear.(Whilethearrestratenationallyincreased2.19%annuallyinthis period,inMichiganthearrestratechangedby2.25%peryear.) Duringthissameperiod,thenumberofannualmarijuanausersinMichigandecreasedfrom1,045,000 in2003to998,000in2007.Thiswasanaverageannualizedchangeof0.92%peryear.Thenumberof monthlymarijuanausersdecreasedfrom596,000in2003to589,000in2007,whichproducedan averageannualizedchangeof0.24%. 3)TheCostsofMarijuanaLaws Theabovecomparisonofmarijuanaarrestsandmarijuanauseprovideabasisforevaluatingthe benefitsofmarijuanalaws.Herearethreeperspectivesthathelpframetheissueofevaluatingthecosts ofmarijuanalawsinMichigan. a)FiscalCosts. ThecriminaljusticesysteminMichigancost$5.77billionfor2006.Thisincludesstate,county,andlocal costs.Hereisthebreakdownforthosecosts: PoliceProtection $2.33billion JudicialandLegalServices $1.15billion Corrections $2.29billion Total $5.77billion ThefederalOfficeofNationalDrugControlPolicy(ONDCP)providesasimplewayofmakingageneral estimateofthecriminaljusticecostsofdrugrelatedarrests.Actually,estimatingthecostsofdifferent typesofarrestsisaverycomplicatedchallengebecauseofthedifferencesbetweenindividualoffenses and,forexample,theinvestigativeandfollowupworktheyrequire.Howevertheuseofapercentage basismethodprovidesageneralestimateofthecostsassociatedwithmarijuanaoffenses.Themethod utilizedbyONDCPisto(a)calculatethepercentageoftotalarrestsaccountedforbydrugarrestsand then(b)applythatpercentagetototalcriminaljusticesystemcosts. Therewere353,335arrestsinMichiganin2006.Therewere19,973marijuanaarreststhatyear, accountingfor5.65%ofallarrestsinMichiganfor2006.Consequently,accordingtothispercentage basismethodofestimation,marijuanaarrestscost$326.02millioninMichiganfor2006.

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b)OpportunityCosts Budgetsare,outofnecessity,aboutmakingchoices.Thisisespeciallytruewhenresourcesarescarce, suchaswhenstateandlocalgovernmentsaregrapplingwithbudgetgapsbetweenrevenueand programcommitments.Economistsrecognizeopportunitycostsastheconsequencesofmakingspecific budgetarydecisions.Providingfundsforoneprogramoftenmeansacceptinglessornofundsforsome othergovernmentactivity.Forexample,providinglawenforcementwiththeobligation,or opportunity,tomakearrestsformarijuanaoffensesdepriveslawenforcementoffundstoapplyto otherinvestigationsandactivities. Lawenforcementagenciespublishstatisticsontheirabilitytoresolveknownoffensesthroughthearrest ofcriminalsuspects.Afteranoffenseisreportedtothepolice,theobjectiveisclearedbyanarrest. Crimeratesarebasedonthenumberofreportedoffenses.Arrestratesarebasedonthenumberof arrests.Clearancerates,usuallyprovidedforthemostseriouscrimes,arebasedonthepercentageof knownoffensesclearedbyarrest. Herearethe2007clearanceratesforseriouscrimesinMichigan: Murder 38.10% Rape 22.70% Robbery 15.30% Assault 31.70% Larceny 13.70% MotorVehicleTheft 7.60% Alltheabovecrimes 18.50% Anothersignificantaspectofevaluatinglawenforcementprioritiesconcernsthegrowingeconomic impactofwhatisreferredtoaswhitecollarcrime.Thisisabroadtermforwhatareessentiallynon violenttheft,includingsuchcrimesasfraud,identitytheft,embezzlement,andsecuritiesfraud.Whilea greatdealofmediaattentionisdevotedtolawenforcementresponsestostreetcrimes,theeconomic impactofthesecrimesisdwarfedbythemagnitudeofwhitecollarcrime,whichisconservatively estimatedtohaveanimpactof10timesthevalueofstreetcrimes. Marijuanaarrestsalsodivertlawenforcementandcriminaljusticesystemresourcesfrompossession andsalesoffensesinvolvingotherillicitdrugs.In2007,marijuanaarrestswere56%ofalldrugarrestsin Michigan.Otherdrugssuchascocaine,heroin,methamphetamine,andsyntheticnarcoticssuchas Oxycontinpresentfarmoreseriousthreatstobothindividualsandthepublic.Theseotherillegaldrugs alsohavefarmoreseveredependenceliabilitiesthanmarijuana.Hereisasummaryofdrugarrestsin Michiganfor2007: Drug Arrests Pct. Opiates/Cocaine 9,788 28% Marijuana 19,691 56% SyntheticNarcotics 1,025 3% OtherDangerousDrugs 4,201 12% AllIllicitDrugs 35,120 100%

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Theneedtoimproveclearanceratesforseriouscrime,todevotegreaterresourcestowhitecollar crime,andtoaddresstheproblemspresentedbymoredangerousdrugsallprovidecompellingreasons forsocietytoreconsiderwhethertheopportunitycostsofmarijuanalawenforcementareacceptable. c)SocialCosts Marijuanaarrestshaveadisproportionateimpactontwodemographicgroupsyoungpeopleand minorities.Inmanycasesanarrestformarijuanapossessionmakesacriminaloutofanotherwiselaw abidingindividual.Itisnotsurprisingthatthemajorityofmarijuanaarrestsinvolveteenagersand youngadultsgiventhepopularityofmarijuanausewithyoungeragegroups.Howeverdifferencesin thearrestratesbetweenwhitesandblackscannotbeexplainedbydifferencesinmarijuanause.In 2007,forexample,10.5%ofwhitesusedmarijuanainthelastyearwhile12.2%ofblacksreportedsuch use.Formarijuanauseinthelastmonth,thecomparablefigureswere6%ofwhitesand7.2%ofblacks. Thesefiguresindicatethatmarijuanausebyblacksisabout20%moreprevalentthanusebywhites. Whilethisisastatisticallysignificantdifference,itdoesnotexplainwhyarrestratesformarijuana possessionforblacksarethreetimeshighernationallythanforwhites.Forexample,thearrestrateper 100,000forblacksin2007was598,whileforwhitesthearrestratewas195. Hereareselected2007marijuanapossessionarrestratesforMichigan: Group PctofArrests ArrestRate per100,000 Allindividuals 100% 164 Malesage15to19 27% 1,176 Femalesage15to19 4% 188 Malesage20to24 23% 1,084 Femalesage20to24 3% 172 Whites 64% 128 Blacks 35% 399 4)MarijuanaUse Therewere998,000annualmarijuanausersinMichiganduring2007,ofwhich589,000reported marijuanauseinthepastmonth.Asnotedabove,thenumberofannualmarijuanausersinMichigan decreasedfrom1,045,000in2003to998,000in2007.Thiswasanaverageannualizedchangeof0.92% peryear.Thenumberofmonthlymarijuanausersdecreasedfrom596,000in2003to589,000in2007, whichproducedanaverageannualizedchangeof0.24%. Thereisgeneralconsensusthatminorsshouldnotusealcohol,marijuana,ortobacco.Accordingtothe mostrecent(2007)data13.70%or122,000youthsaged12to17inMichiganusedmarijuanainthepast year.Ofthese,7.60%(ofthetotalpopulationofthisagegroup)or67,000youthsusedmarijuanainthe pastmonth.Marijuanasillegalstatusdidnotpreventtheseyouthsfromhavingaccesstomarijuana. Indeed,mostteenagersreportthatmarijuanaisfairlyeasytoobtain.Oneofthereasonsmarijuana remainseasyforyouthstoobtainistheprofitincentivecreatedbytheillegalmarket.Simplyput, teenagersmakemoneybysellingmarijuanatootheryouths,whichincreasestheavailabilityof marijuanaamongteens.Inthisway,marijuanasillegalitymakesitmorewidelyandreadilyavailableto teenagers. 5

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Herearedataontheprevalenceandpopulationestimatesformarijuanausebyvariousagegroupsin Michigan: PastMonthMarijuanaUse(2007) Age Pct. Pop. Age12to17 7.60% 67,000 Age18to25 18.60% 204,000 Age26+ 5.00% 318,000 Total 7.00% 589,000 PastYearMarijuanaUse(2007) Age Pct. Pop. Age12to17 13.70% 122,000 Age18to25 32.60% 356,000 Age26+ 8.10% 520,000 Total 11.90% 998,000 5)CountyLevelRankings Mostmarijuanaarrestsaremadebylocalpoliceagencies.Individualagenciesandofficersexercise considerablediscretionregardinglawenforcement,notjustformarijuanaoffenses,butforanumberof offenses.Thenumberofmarijuanaarrestsalsovariesbecauseofdifferencesinlocalpopulationsand thelocalprevalenceofmarijuanause.Furthermore,someareashaveexceptionallyhigharrestratesfor marijuanabecausetheyattractlargevisitorpopulations.Becausearrestratesarecalculatedbydividing thenumberofarrestsbythelocalresidentpopulation,numerousarrestsofvisitorstothearea artificiallyinflatethelocalarrestrate.Foratownwitharelativelysmallpopulation,thearrestofseveral peopledrivingthroughthetownoronanearbyhighway(suchasaninterstate)canproducea comparativelyhigharrestrateformarijuanapossession. Collegetownsmayhavelargearrestratesformarijuanaoffensesbecausetheyhavelargerresident populationsofyoungadults,amongwhommarijuanauseismoreprevalentthaninolderpopulations. Ontheotherhand,collegetownsmayhavelowerarrestratesformarijuanapossession,forexample, becauseofthediscretionarypoliciesoflocalpoliceagencies. Similarly,areaswithlargeconcentrationsofAfricanAmericansmayhavehigherarrestratesfor marijuanapossessionthanotherareasbecauselawenforcementagenciesthroughouttheUnitedStates consistentlyarrestmoreblacksformarijuanapossessionthanwhites. Areassuchasbeachtowns,skiresorts,andnaturalresourceareasalsoexhibitrelativelyhighmarijuana arrestratesbecausetheyattractnumerousvisitors,includinglargenumbersofyoungadults. Finally,someareashavelargerarrestratesformarijuanapossessionsimplybecausemarijuanauseis popularamongthelocalresidents;localpoliceagencieshaveaggressiveenforcementpolicies,orboth. Countylevelmarijuanapossessionarrestratesshouldbecomparedagainstthebenchmarkprovidedby thestatewidearrestrateof164inMichiganfor2007.Thefollowingtablesprovidetheleadingcounties 6

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inMichiganformarijuanapossessionarrests,marijuanapossessionarrestrates,thepossessionarrest ratesformalesaged15to19,andthepossessionarrestratesforblacks: MichiganCountyLeaders inMarijuanaPossessionArrests(2007) Wayne 3,869 Oakland 2,173 Macomb 1,441 Kent 1,165 Kalamazoo 599 MichiganCountyLeaders inMarijuanaPossessionArrestRates(2007) Berrien 308 StJoseph 272 Gogebic 269 Gratiot 263 Kalamazoo 250 MichiganCountyLeaders inMarijuanaPossessionArrestRates,MalesAged15to19(2007) Mackinac 2,164 Menominee 2,022 Berrien 2,012 GrandTraverse 1,839 StJoseph 1,829 MichiganCountyLeaders inMarijuanaPossessionArrestRatesofBlacks(2007) Menominee 2,904 Shiawassee 2,167 Gladwin 1,882 Clinton 1,690 Sanilac 1,603 6)DrugTreatmentAdmissionTrends Dataondrugtreatmentadmissionsisoftenusedtojustifydevotinglawenforcementresourcesto makingmarijuanaarrests.Theargumentistwofold.First,thenumberofmarijuanarelatedadmissions todrugtreatmentfacilitiesisofferedasevidencethatmarijuanaisadangerousdrug.Second, marijuanaarrestsarejustifiedbecausetheyforcepeopletogettreatment. Thereareanumberofflawstothisargument.Alcoholisalsoresponsibleforalargeproportionofdrug treatmentadmissions,howeverregulationiswidelyrecognizedasthemosteffectivepolicyfor 7

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restrictingaccessandreducingprohibitionrelatedcrime.Furthermore,despitewelldeservedpublic concernoverdrugabuseandageneralconsensusthatitshouldbereduced,drugabuseisnotacrime. Thelegalbasisfordruglawsisthatthemanufacture,distribution,sale,andpossessionofdrugsare illegal.Itisunconstitutionaltocriminalizeillness,mentalhealthproblems,ordrugdependencyinthe UnitedStates.Alcoholism,forexample,isnotillegal.Insteadweholdalcoholicslegallyaccountablefor theirconduct,suchasbeingdrunkinpublicordrivingwhileintoxicated.Forcingindividualsintodrug treatmentprogramsisadubiousjustificationformakingarrestsofindividualsformarijuanapossession. Lawenforcementofficers,prosecutors,andothercriminaljusticeprofessionalsarenotmedicallytrained orcertifiedtodiagnosedrugdependencyandmakediscretionarydecisionsaboutindividualtreatment requirements. Howeverthemostsignificantcharacteristicofmarijuanarelateddrugtreatmentadmissionsisthata majorityoftheminMichiganaretheresultofreferralsfromthecriminaljusticesystem,oftenasan alternativetojailtimeasasentenceforamarijuanapossessionorsalesoffense. During2007,therewere10,856admissionsfordrugtreatmentservicesinMichigan.Ofthese,51.26% weretheresultofreferralsfromtheMichigancriminaljusticesystem. Hereisabreakdownofthemajorityof2007drugtreatmentadmissionsinMichigan: PrimaryDrug Admissions Pct. Alcohol 26,871 43% Marijuana 10,856 17% Cocaine 10,339 17% SyntheticNarcotics 4,527 7% Methamphetamine 373 1% AllAdmissions 62,578 100% Sources: SentencesforMarijuanaPossessionwereobtainedfrom:ImpacTeenIllicitDrugTeam.Illicitdrug policies:Selectedlawsfromthe50states.BerrienSprings,MI:AndrewsUniversity,2002. http://www.impacteen.org/generalarea_PDFs/IDTchartbook032103.pdfandupdatedfromother sources.Rankingsofsentenceswerecalculatedindependentlyandarebasedonthemaximumnumber ofdaysallowedbystatelawforthelistedquantitiesofmarijuana.Theoverallrankingisbasedona weightedindexforthefourquantitylevels.Theweightingusedinthisindexwas:70%forpenaltiesfor 1ounceand10%eachforthepenaltiesfor2,3,and4ounces. AllarrestandclearancedatawereobtainedfromtheFBIsUniformCrimeReporting(UCR)Program. DataondrugusewereobtainedfromtheNationalSurveyonDrugUseandHealth(NSDUH);dataon drugtreatmentadmissionswereobtainedfromtheTreatmentEpisodesDataSet(TEDS).NSDUHand TEDSarecompiledandpublishedbytheSubstanceAbuseandMentalHealthServicesAdministration (SAMHSA)oftheU.S.DepartmentofHealthandHumanServices.DataonCriminalJusticeServicecosts wereobtainedfromtheCriminalJusticeExpenditureandEmploymentExtractsProgram(CJEE)ofthe BureauofJusticeStatisticsoftheU.S.DepartmentofJustice.Moreinformationonsourcedataforthis reportcanbeobtainedathttp://www.drugscience.org/States/Notes.htm.