Federal vs. State Approaches To Cannabis: Recent DEA Data Shows Increase In Enforcement While States Move Toward Decriminalization And Legalization

One might think that the recent uptick in the legalization of recreational marijuana usage would correlate with a decline in the arrests and seizures related to the leafy-green. According to recent data from the Drug Enforcement Administration, however, in 2021, federal law enforcement agents seized over 5.5 million marijuana plants and conducted more than 6,600 marijuana related arrests. That's 20 percent more seizures and 25 percent more arrests than those made the previous year. Indeed, the DEA reports that it is "aggressively striving to halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the United States," including through its Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP), which began funding eradication programs in 1979 and has approximately 126 state and local law enforcement agency participants.