DEA Fails To Release Updated Marijuana Arrest And Seizure Data, Drawing Criticism From Legalization Advocates

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is facing criticism after failing to release updated annual data on marijuana-related arrests and seizures as it has done in prior years.

The agency has been publishing and archiving the annual data from its Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP) for decades, and advocates say the information is critical, especially amid heightened consideration of federal marijuana policy reform.

The last time that DEA updated the cannabis arrest and seizures figures was May 2023.

That data showed that DEA seized more than 5.7 million marijuana plants in 2022, a demonstrable increase that bucked the trend that’s been observed over recent years as the state legalization movement has expanded. However, the agency made far fewer cannabis-related arrests that year.

“At a time when voters and their elected officials nationwide are re-evaluating state and federal marijuana policies, it is inconceivable that government agencies are unwilling to provide data on the estimated costs and scope of federal marijuana prohibition in America,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a blog post.

🚨 At a time when voters and their elected officials nationwide are re-evaluating state & federal marijuana policies, it is inconceivable that government agencies are unwilling to provide data on the estimated costs & scope of federal marijuana prohibition https://t.co/Y2gBKmf9l1

— NORML (@NORML) December 30, 2024

Marijuana Moment reached out to DEA for comment, but a representative was not immediately available.

In 2022, meanwhile, 90 percent of the plants that DEA eradicated—and more than 50 percent of the marijuana-related arrests—were in California, where cannabis is legal but where the majority of jurisdictions in the state ban licensed retailers from operating. That regulatory patchwork has enabled illicit producers to continue to thrive and supply cannabis both inside and outside of the state, making it a key target for federal enforcement.

While DEA’s eradication program chopped down large numbers of plants in 2022, the decline in arrests is consistent with trends that have been observed over recent years as more states have moved to enact legalization.

Meanwhile, data released this year from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that seizures of cannabis at southern border declined again in 2023. The latest figures show agents intercepted roughly 61,000 pounds of cannabis in the region—a 29 percent drop from the year before.

This tracks with other indications of declines in illegal marijuana trafficking as a growing number of state laws give American consumers legal places to buy cannabis, including a March report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission that showed federal cases continue to fall.

While that report didn’t cite the specific number of marijuana trafficking cases in 2023, it dipped again compared to the previous 2022 low of 806. By comparison, there were roughly 5,000 cannabis cases in 2013.

A 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shed some light on who’s getting caught up in enforcement activities. At checkpoints across the country, agents are mostly taking small amounts of marijuana from American citizens rather than making large busts of international cartels, as some might assume.

Also, consistent with other studies and federal reports, the GAO analysis showed a significant decline in cannabis seizures at checkpoints overall since 2016.

While DEA hasn’t updated its DCE/SP data, the agency has been involved in another area of marijuana policy: It’s actively participating in an administrative hearing on the Biden administration’s proposal to reschedule cannabis. However, the DEA judge assigned to that case has been critical of the agency throughout the process due to largely procedural missteps.

Meanwhile, DEA recently announced that it is increasing the 2025 quota for the legal production of DMT in the U.S., saying it agrees with requests for the adjustment to “support legitimate research and scientific efforts” to develop a Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved drug based on the psychedelic.

DEA released initial quotas for the production of Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances for research purposes in September. At the time, it called for an increase in the manufacturing of the psychedelics ibogaine, psilocybin and psilocyn, while continuing to maintain stable quotas for other substances such as marijuana, THC and MDMA.

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