<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><a href="http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/345-justice/15648-focus-marijuana-arrests-now-exceed-arrests-for-violent-crime">http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/345-justice/15648-focus-marijuana-arrests-now-exceed-arrests-for-violent-crime</a><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; "><h1 class="txttitle" style="margin-top: 30px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; width: 475px; ">Marijuana Arrests Now Exceed Arrests for Violent Crime</h1><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; ">By Jason Sattler, National Memo</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; color: rgb(220, 59, 65); font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; ">21 January 13</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; "> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; "><img border="0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; " id="e617aef1-cdc3-49f9-bcae-6e76ed2b0cb5" height="25" width="11" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:992C96A6-0779-4278-9AA4-B4180EA0A6DB">n 2011, arrests for marijuana exceeded arrests for violent crime by more than 100,000, <a href="http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">according to a report from the FBI</a>.</p><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; ">Though marijuana laws have become liberalized - <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/18/1468591/police-made-more-arrests-for-marijuana-possession-than-for-violent-crime/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">with 18 states legalizing the drug for medicinal</a> use and two now explicitly allowing recreational use as the result of ballot initiatives - marijuana arrests have doubled since 1980, according to this analysis from the Huffington Post:</p><center style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><img alt="Graph" height="418" width="570" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; " id="429499ed-cb58-402f-aee5-c6f4b9a59adb" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:C178DF4F-B275-46FC-953D-ECAB7C6B2109"></center><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; ">Marijuana is still illegal under federal law, presenting a law-enforcement challenge. Late last year, President Obama said that his administration would not go after recreational users of the drug.</p><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; ">"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said. "It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal."</p><p class="indent" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 30pt; "><a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/marijuana-legalization-and-states-rights/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">A bare majority of Americans support regulating the drug</a> like alcohol. That majority is substantially larger among young people, as it has been for decades...</p><div>More on website...</div></span></div></body></html>