Thesis: Arrests due to Possession of Marijuana

Sample Thesis Paper

However in the Netherlands decriminalization of the substance was adopted in 1976. Under Dutch law possession still remain a crime but the state no longer enforces it. Eventually Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Italy followed suit with England also doing so in 2004. However the United States has actually increased the drug penalties for marijuana. Not only do users face fines, citations but also jail time if they grow or sell marijuana.

According to a study conducted by the National Survey on drug use and health an average of 5.1% of people 12 years and older reported using marijuana from 1999-2001 (Natonal Survery On Drug use and health, 2005). Additionally the number of arrests that have occurred due to marijuana possession in New York number over 350,000 between 1997-2006 with 52% of the people arrested being African Americans. Not only that the report these statistic came from stated that most of these arrest came from the stop and frisking of nearly 479,000 people. 87% of them were innocent (Levine & Small, 2008). Thus we can see how the war on drugs has created an environment of a loss of privacy. Additionally although most of these people are charged with misdemeanors, repeated offences can land them in prison among far more hardened criminals. This creates a huge tax burden on the United States government in terms of the war on drugs and the prison system.

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