Harry G. Levine / Department of Sociology / Queens College /
City University of New York / hglevine@QC.edu
THE MARIJUANA
ARREST BINGE
IN NEW YORK CITY,
1997-2004
Below are graphs showing the dramatic
increase in arrests for marijuana use in New York City since 1990, and
especially since 1997. This has gone almost unreported and unnoticed by the New
York media.
From 1990 to 2000 marijuana arrests
in the United States more than doubled -- from about 327,000 to over
734,000. From 1990 to 2000 marijuana
arrests in New York went up by 12 fold -- from about 5,000 to 61,000. During this time, marijuana use and availability
remained largely unchanged.
Because of its large number of
marijuana arrests, New York City is now the marijuana arrest capital of the
US. Indeed, since 1997 New York has
probably arrested more people for marijuana use and possession than any city in
the world.
Since 2001, and especially since
September 11, 2001, marijuana arrests in New York have decreased. However, in
2004 they were still higher than in the once record-breaking year of 1997. In 2005, New York City is still on its
extraordinary marijuana arrest crusade.
The four graphs showing the
marijuana arrests in New York City were generated from data provided by the New
York State Division of Criminal Justice Services in the summer of 2005. The original table with the exact numbers is
included as well. These are all arrests
where marijuana was the most serious charge. These are arrests of
"adults," meaning 16 years and older.
The graphs and table show that
virtually all the marijuana arrests in New York City were misdemeanors, and nearly all were only for
using or possessing marijuana.
People arrested by New York City
police for using or possessing even tiny amounts of marijuana usually face a
night in jail, criminal charges, an arrest record, and the likelihood of being
disqualified from student financial aid and many jobs. Marijuana arrests are
not trivial.
Again, almost no media is calling
attention to New York City's marijuana arrest binge. Almost nobody knows about this.
______________
This data
was presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia,
Aug 15, 2005.
This project of tracking marijuana
arrests in New York City was inspired and encouraged by Lynn Zimmer, Professor
Emeritus of Sociology at Queens College and criminologist extraordinaire. It would not have been possible without her.
-- Harry G. Levine / Department of Sociology / Queens College / City University of New York
New York City 1.
Source: New York State Division of
Criminal Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History system (as of 4/05).
Includes all fingerprintable arrests for
NYS Penal Law Article 221 offenses as the most serious charge in an arrest
event.
Ages 16 and older.
New York City 2.
Source: New York State Division of Criminal
Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History system (as of 4/05).
Includes all fingerprintable arrests for
NYS Penal Law Article 221 offenses as the most serious charge in an arrest
event.
Ages 16 and older.
New York City 3.
Source: New York State Division of
Criminal Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History system (as of 4/05).
Includes all fingerprintable arrests for
NYS Penal Law Article 221 offenses as the most serious charge in an arrest
event.
Ages 16 and older.
New York City 4.
Source: New York State Division of
Criminal Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History system (as of 4/05).
Includes all fingerprintable arrests for
NYS Penal Law Article 221 offenses as the most serious charge in an arrest event.
Ages 16 and older.
New York City 5.
MARIJUANA ARRESTS IN NEW YORK CITY, 1978 - 2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year |
Total |
|
Misdem. |
Felony |
|
Possession |
Sale |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1978 |
5,837 |
|
4,642 |
1,195 |
|
3,864 |
1,973 |
|
1979 |
5,845 |
|
4,410 |
1,435 |
|
3,339 |
2,506 |
|
1980 |
6,317 |
|
4,863 |
1,454 |
|
3,173 |
3,144 |
|
1981 |
8,781 |
|
7,055 |
1,726 |
|
3,949 |
4,832 |
|
1982 |
9,455 |
|
7,767 |
1,688 |
|
3,565 |
5,890 |
|
1983 |
10,711 |
|
8,999 |
1,712 |
|
3,686 |
7,025 |
|
1984 |
13,410 |
|
11,460 |
1,950 |
|
4,639 |
8,771 |
|
1985 |
16,036 |
|
14,554 |
1,482 |
|
6,385 |
9,651 |
|
1986 |
11,797 |
|
10,441 |
1,356 |
|
4,734 |
7,063 |
|
1987 |
10,642 |
|
9,605 |
1,037 |
|
4,046 |
6,596 |
|
1988 |
8,215 |
|
7,525 |
690 |
|
2,674 |
5,541 |
|
1989 |
6,552 |
|
5,963 |
589 |
|
1,717 |
4,835 |
|
1990 |
5,116 |
|
4,268 |
848 |
|
1,766 |
3,350 |
|
1991 |
4,514 |
|
3,730 |
784 |
|
1,597 |
2,917 |
|
1992 |
4,807 |
|
4,157 |
650 |
|
1,533 |
3,274 |
|
1993 |
5,984 |
|
5,250 |
734 |
|
2,286 |
3,698 |
|
1994 |
8,616 |
|
7,767 |
849 |
|
4,125 |
4,491 |
|
1995 |
11,958 |
|
10,918 |
1,040 |
|
6,888 |
5,070 |
|
1996 |
18,075 |
|
16,897 |
1,178 |
|
10,814 |
7,261 |
|
1997 |
27,270 |
|
25,876 |
1,394 |
|
19,481 |
7,789 |
|
1998 |
43,055 |
|
41,664 |
1,391 |
|
34,332 |
8,723 |
|
1999 |
43,969 |
|
42,604 |
1,365 |
|
35,005 |
8,964 |
|
2000 |
61,858 |
|
60,543 |
1,315 |
|
52,417 |
9,441 |
|
2001 |
48,700 |
|
47,707 |
993 |
|
42,537 |
6,163 |
|
2002 |
50,214 |
|
49,178 |
1,036 |
|
45,226 |
4,988 |
|
2003 |
44,380 |
|
43,519 |
861 |
|
40,138 |
4,242 |
|
2004 |
34,194 |
|
33,146 |
1,048 |
|
29,027 |
5,167 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
Misdem |
Felony |
|
Possession |
Sale |
Source: New York State Division of
Criminal Justice Services, Computerized Criminal History system (as of 4/05).
Includes all fingerprintable arrests for
NYS Penal Law Article 221 offenses as the most serious charge in an arrest
event.
Ages 16 and older.
MARIJUANA ARRESTS AND USE IN THE US
The following graphs are from a variety of sources and show what has
been happening in the US as a whole.
From 1990 to 2000 marijuana arrests in
the United States more than doubled. In New York City they increased by 12
fold.
From 1980 to 2000 both the use and
availability of marijuana, as reported by the US government, has remained
fairly stable. Neither use nor
availability explain the increasing number of marijuana arrests nationally, or
the dramatic and historically unprecedented increasing number of marijuana
arrests in New York City.
In the US, heroin and cocaine
arrests increased substantially in the 1980s, but dropped slightly in the 1990s
as marijuana arrests increased. From 1985 to 2001, US drug expenditures
increased from $4 billion to $18 billion, with most of that money (nearly $10
billion) going to domestic law enforcement including making marijuana arrests.
In recent years, NORML (The National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) has hired a professional
researcher to calculate the per capita marijuana arrests for all U.S.
counties. In 1997, for U.S. counties larger than 250,000, five of the top ten
counties in terms of per capita marijuana arrests were: Brooklyn, Bronx,
Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Recently NORML recalculated the per capita marijuana arrest rates
and found that from 2000 to 2002 five of the top ten counties over 250,000 in per
capita marijuana arrests were again: Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Manhattan and
Staten Island. **
As the Sentencing Project has
recently observed, since 1990 the US has been waging a "War on
Marijuana." In per capita
arrests, and in total arrests, New York City has been the record-breaking
leader in that war on marijuana. From 1997 to 2004, New York City arrested
350,00 people on marijuana charges, and nearly 300,000 just for using or
possessing marijuana.
Since 1997, New York City has
arrested more people simply for possessing marijuana than any city in the US,
and probably more than any city in the history of the world.
-HGL
**Notes
The
Sentencing Project report "The War on Marijuna" (2005) can be found
at:
http://www.sentencingproject.org/waronmarijuana.cfm
NORML's
arrest rate calculations for 1997 can be found at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5074&wtm_format=wide
NORML'S arrest rate
calculations for 20000-2002 can be found in "Crimes of Indiscretion"
(2005) Table 61, p 119 at
http://www.norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Crimes_of_Indiscretion.pdf
US-1
At:
http://www.mpp.org/pdf/surveys_04.pdf
US-2
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k2nsduh/2k2SoFW.pdf / p.38 of document
US-3
At:
http://www.mpp.org/pdf/surveys_04.pdf
US-4
Number of arrests, by drug type, 1982-99
Drug
Law Violations 1980 - 1999 /
US
Department of Justice / Bureau of Justice Statistics 17may01
At: http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/Drug-Violation.htm
"Other"
and "Synthetic" includes LSD, Ecstasy, Methamphetamine, and synthetic
narcotics.
US-5
An Analytic Assessment of U.S. Drug Policy
by David Boyum
and Peter Reuter, 2005 p. 38
At: http://www.aei.org/docLib/20050218_book812text.pdf
and:
http://www.aei.org/books/bookID.812,filter.all/book_detail.asp
Click
here to go to: "When Liberals Were Indignant About Marijuana Arrests:
Excerpts from The New Republic," 1967-72
Harry
G. Levine / Department of Sociology / Queens College / City University of New
York / hglevine@QC.edu / August 05