High risk.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Data - Statistics between marijuana use and arrests - Brief article

In 2006, according to FBI data released in September, more people were arrested on marijuana charges in the United States than ever before: almost 830,000, up from the previous record of about 787,000 in 2005. Those arrests represented more than two-fifths of all drug arrests, and the vast majority involved simple possession, as opposed to sale or manufacture. Overall, marijuana arrests have increased more than 150 percent since 1990.

You might think that increases in marijuana use prompt increases in arrests, or that increases in arrests lead to reductions in use. But judging from the federal government's own survey data, there is no clear relationship between the number of arrests and the number of pot smokers. Since 1990, a period during...