A new study shows some 240,000 people have been arrested for marijuana possession in Washington state over the past 25 years.
The Marijuana Arrest Research Project released a report Thursday detailing the arrest figures, based on data from the FBI. It comes as voters consider whether to legalize and tax pot sales for adults.
The authors say that it wasn’t possible to figure out how many of the 240,000 might have been arrested for other charges, such as assault, in addition to marijuana possession, because of the way Washington state data are reported to the FBI. However, based on other studies of states that do separate out such data, the researchers believe that the overwhelming majority of the arrests were for simple misdemeanor possession alone. (AP)
