DEA: Marijuana Seizures Decline In 2015

personal_cultivationSeizures of indoor and outdoor cannabis crops by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fell in 2015, according to annual data compiled by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Statistical Report, agents eradicated 4.25 million marijuana plants nationwide in 2015. That total is slightly less than the total reported by the agency for the year 2014 (4.3 million) and continues to the ongoing decline in eradication totals since 2010, when the agency reported eliminating some 10.3 million plants.

As in past years, DEA eradication efforts largely focused on California. Of the total number of plants seized nationwide by the DEA in 2015, 62 percent were in California.

Only about 7 percent of all plants seized by the DEA were from indoor grows.

The DEA reported making some 6,300 arrests in conjunction with their cannabis eradication efforts — a total that mirrors 2014 figures. By contrast, the agency reported making nearly 10,000 marijuana arrests in 2010 and 8,500 arrests in 2011.

Tables from the 2015 report are online here.

33 thoughts

  1. I took out my wrath against the DEA in the previous post, so let me just say again, in summary: 1) fuck the DEA; and more specifically, 2) defund the DEA; and 3) disband the DEA.

    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. I agree…the DEA has too much power and should be concerned with all the pharmaceutical drugs that are so bad!!!!

      Reply

  2. I still ask myself everyday: when all 50 states legalize medical, recreational, and hemp where is the federal government going to get the money to bust into each state and make marijuana arrest? Especially with our jacked up budget. The DEA will just fade into not doing anything with pot. Even if it’s still federally illegal the government can’t afford it.

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    1. #1 I’d like to echo Mark.

      #2 Scandal in Pennsylvania about the guy in charge of medical marijuana:

      Pennsylvania’s newly hired state medical marijuana director’s former company hit with fraud allegations

      http://www.wtae.com/news/state-medical-marijuana-directors-former-company-hit-with-fraud-allegations/41056362

      Cannabis just needs to be de-scheduled completely. I’m sure Big Pharma will still be able to peddle their pure versions of compounds, synthetic or whatever, based on cannabis, and gone through the FDA big money approval process. Completely de-scheduled.

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  4. Seizures decline– by 0.4%, gee whizz.
    .
    “The Federal Government should be a catalyst to encourage and assist… in the efficient long term use and improvement of [National Forest] lands and [their] renewable resources.”– Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, Sec. 2, 16 U.S.C. 1600
    .
    What’s this about rogue agency DEA destroying cannabis plants when it is widely recognized that cannabis is a top-grade precursor crop for tree-planting and long-term improvement of forest lands? Look it up, write your Senator.

    [Paul Armentano responds: While the 2014 to 2015 decline is nominal the overall trend decline since 2010 is significant and worth acknowledging.]

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  5. The DEA still has a sting mark since Kentucky AGCommissioner James Comey threatened to sue them, the Attorney General, the entire DOJ, and even the president if they didn’t give back their Italian imported hemp seed for their hemp pilot program. Clearly hemp is about to take off by restricting the amount of THC in the federally allowable scheduling.

    High Times has the best breakdown;

    http://hightimes.com/news/dea-claims-marijuana-rescheduling-decision-is-close/

    That would certainly make the pharmaceutical companies happy that have been grappling with how to turn an entire plant into a single molucule so marijuana can fit into Big Pharma’s patent-for-profit model, brought to you by side-effects such as opiate addiction and emptying your savings account for diabetic pills from Novo Nordisk that cause cancer. (Thank you Debbie Washmoney Shultz!)

    Here’s the latest from High Times;
    Last month, Baer told aNewDomain that the DEA and other governmental agencies were struggling with the cannabis debate because they were still trying to “identify the parts of the plant that might have benefit, and separating out (the beneficial) components and distinguishing which “aren’t beneficial or harmful.”

    “Therefore, it is conceivable that if and when the DEA’s decision is finally made public, it will be somewhat of a disappointment—possibly only coming with a reschedule for non-intoxicating compounds like cannabidiol (CBD), while leaving our good friend tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the ranks of killer substances like heroin.”

    The article goes on to quote our NORML deputy director Paul Armentano that reminds us that anything on the scheduling list for marijuana won’t necessarily improve access to medical marijuana so if the DEA doesn’t DEschedule its up to us voting and supporting candidates for Congress that got a passing grade on the NORML Congressional Scorecard;

    http://norml.org/congressional-scorecard

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    1. Aaaaugh! There’s that word again! “Intoxicating.” Marijuana that is consumed without combustion is NON toxic, and even when smoked only marginally with much more benefit than harm! Great; Now I gotta go contact the editors at marijuana.com.

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  6. The fact is even if we went to schedule IV with cannabis that doesn’t stop the government’s illegal monopoly on supplying impotent, restricted recently-bumped-up-to-a-measly-1100-pounds-a-year-stockpile at a farm at the University of Mississippi. Which leads me to my one question for you for the whole year mr. Armentano;
    How many Congressman does it take to shut that f~€*!ng farm down?
    We know it’s a violation of anti-trust laws, but of course the courts said “Congress doesn’t have to be right.” (You couldn’t notice the pause in my writing but I have to yell into a bottle every time I say that quote, so I can save that bottle and shove it up Michael Boticelli’s @$$ when he fails to deschedule, much less shut the farm down… see if he likes it! …Although from what Ive heard, he probably would…)

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  7. So NIDA director Boticelli funds the farm at ol Miss. And this former alcoholic closet homosexual actually has propaganda on his website saying “THC at a young age can cause sexual promiscuity.”
    Here’s an article from a year ago about NIDA and the farm;
    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/inside-the-us-governments-mississippi-marijuana-farm/

    The article talks alot about the researcher who runs the farm, an Egyptian researcher named “ElSohly,” who got the gig since the Reagan administration.
    As Im researching this fabulous mountain of bull$#!+ our Congress dredged us into, the puzzle pieces from readings on the original Eastland hearings comes back to me, which ignored the recommendations of the Shaeffer commission in 1970 that marijuana was safe and could reduce brain tumors (hello?!) and passed the Controlled Substances Act anyway. One of the arguments from Senator Eastland’s witnesses was an Egyptian anesthesiologist by the name of Dr. Gabriel Nahas who testified before Congress that “consuming marijuana could make you gay.”
    Really? I didn’t know being gay was a crime. Now, having smoked marijuana since I was 18 rest assured, it never gatewayed me into smoking cock. In fact, when I was in College, I even had a gay roommate I could have f%^*ed any time I wanted, we got high on kine bud all the time and I STILL didn’t go gay. Here’s the fact; if you are a young male, and you went from smoking weed to smoking cock, I got news for you; you were gay BEFORE you started consuming marijuana!
    Point is, gay or not, thats a lame excuse to prohibit marijuana from kids with epilepsy. (See how I segued into that ? Smoking weed to smoking cock to kids with epilepsy; take note novice journalists, I’m on fire tonight!)

    Reply

    1. In the 70’s, I was an adolescent, growing up in rural bible-belt, and Man! Did they ever lay it on thick with the bullshit in that place and time!! The bastards love to play on our fears — it doesn’t have to be true or even plausible, just scary… like “smoking cock.” Holy Shit! Pot does that?! (No.)

      The one that got to me as a teen was, “It’s going to give you tits.” When I was in Junior High, as part of an anti-drug curriculum, instructors actually showed me pictures of a man’s hairy chest with an impressive pair of breasts, allegedly caused by marijuana use. I was at an age, I hadn’t even been laid yet, I hadn’t even tried weed yet, and here they are fucking with my head, showing me these pictures.

      I didn’t believe them, so it didn’t prevent me from smoking pot; but still I couldn’t stop checking my nipples from time to time, even well into adulthood. “First sign of a tittie,” I said to myself, “and that’s it! I quit.” But it didn’t happen.

      Men and women can develop fatty deposits around the breast area, that’s perfectly normal, from what I understand. It’s not the same thing as breast tissue.

      One shouldn’t lie to kids about things like that. One shouldn’t lie to kids at all, they’re not equipped with the experience to know about fucking liars.

      Looking back, I become enraged that I was manipulated so badly. But I live in a legal state — and, they say the best revenge is living well! So that’s how I try to play it. I take a hit off the very best hash in the world, and I say “I finally beat you, you lying bastards! Here’s to your tits!”

      Reply

      1. I think Michael Phelps is a prime example that; smoking marijuana doesn’t give you tits. I’m 38 now and boy am I glad that was another pile of regurgitated propaganda. Excercise, hard work and marijuana make life better.

      2. As were watching Phelps rake in the gold, my little brother told me Phelps once had a tranny girlfriend. I was about to resign there’s an exception to anything but after a little research;
        http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6193082
        I quickly scolded him for getting his news from facebook and tabloids.
        And there… Just watched Phelps win his 21st olympic gold metal!! Marijuana does whAaaat?

      3. Classic Half Baked;

        http://youtu.be/z_dzDb5v744

        “You’re in here for MARIJUANA?!!”
        Bob Saget; “I sucked dick for coke. You ever sucked dick for marijuana?”
        Dave Chapelle: “Nooo… Can’t say that I have…”

        Priceless…

    2. Another way to look at it is that cannabis simply doesn’t work as a cure for heterosexuality. 🙂

      Reply

      1. Lol… And I wasn’t lookin for one. Fortunately for us marijuana helps us see different perspectives. I realize of course you’re being facetious, though I feel it necessary to clarify the “cure” is in being ourselves, however it is by nature and nurture that we identify as “norml.” Marijuana helps us achieve homeostasis, (defined by hormonal, endocannabinoid balance, not to be confused with Homosexuality… Or that being gay needs to be “cured.” Even “balance” is relatively different to everyone’s personality and physiology) . Legalizing marijuana can help our entire nation achieve balance and homeostasis… Perhaps even socioeconomic equality. We have to force our Congress and our institutions of health to recognize our differences based on real, peer reviewed science while, I dunno, consuming marijuana during a town hall with our communities and representatives and balancing out what is good for one may not be good for the other and on the way we replace bad laws with good ones.
        And sometimes the gay guy gets to cut in at the table and tolerate a few jokes from the straight guys.. (And maybe even tolerate a few straight jokes 😉 ) As long as were being genuinely funny and not just being bullies. Kinda like poker night?

      2. Now….(long pause)
        Is the time for action…
        “They know”. they know.. “It is wrong!
        they just need to open their eyes for a change. And think of the benefits for legalizing Marijuana! State and Local votes for legalizing Pot! Rem The “Bill Of Rights!”

  8. These raids are actually on the rise in Massachusetts this summer. There have been helicopter raids all over southeastern Massachusetts and the Islands in the last week. Hundreds of plants eradicated. No warrants. No check for medical compliance under state law. MV Times in Martha’s Vineyard has a write up on a huge operation this past week.

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  9. Touting a lessening of the enslavement of non violent offenders may appear positive, but continuing the ignorance does not help the patients obtain safe access to their chosen medication.

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  10. I consider the DEA to be the worst thing that America has ever created.

    They have done a great deal more harm to our society then any terrorist could ever hope for.

    So I find myself wondering what word could possibly, adequately, describe this awful rogue organization.

    My word for them and malevolent.

    What do you all think in one word that describes a DEA.

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  12. The lies and mixed messages are terrible things to teach children. And standing up to these monstrous bullies from DARE meetings can still get you separated from your family, as what happened last year to the 11 year old son of Shona Banda in Kansas.

    http://thefreethoughtproject.com/exclusive-shona-banda-medical-cannabis-warrior-tells-won-battle-state-kansas/

    Interrogating children without legal consent and forcing them to testify against their mother using lies and false promise to be returned home is nothing less than state sponsored terror. I was surprised to see how close this petition at change.org is from reaching 75,000 signatures. Lets send it over;

    https://www.change.org/p/give-shona-banda-a-loving-mom-and-medical-marijuana-patient-custody-of-her-son

    Finally, I put the current date in my search and struck gold;

    http://en.eventhint.com/events/10153975/court-support-shona-banda-hearing-to-decide-medical-necessity

    Shona has a hearing in October to show evidence of medical necessity to drop her case. She faces years in prison while Kansas forces her to keep from consuming medical cannabis to treat her Chrone’s Disease while the government holds her child ransom. No, I’m not talking about Russia or Turkey, this is in Garden City Kansas USA!
    #supportshona

    Reply

    1. Although the Philippines takes the prohibition cake; The Philipino version of Trump, President Duarte is mass killing drug offenders; sign the petition;

      http://Www.drugpolicy.org

      700 innocent souls killed by “vigilantes” during one week and instead of our government condemning this activity Secretary of State John Kerry is pledging 21 million for “law enforcement?”
      WTF?!
      And I defended this guy on this blog before.

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  13. No major newspaper is reporting this story on Shona and her son. John Oliver was right; I need to refrain from posting his recent show about Journalism from Last Week Tonight using a free link on Youtube and convince him to start his own non for profit network based on donations so he can hire his own journalists and we can get some real reporting done on cases like Shona Banda’s. I mean if this isn’t example of the deplorable state of investigative reporting in the US, the only article I could find reporting on Shona’s recent bond hearing was here, on a website called “Government Slaves”:

    http://www.govtslaves.info/shona-banda-faces-decades-in-prison-because-her-son-questioned-anti-pot-propaganda/

    “Banda, a 38-year-old massage therapist who appeared in criminal court for the first time last week, is free on a $50,000 bond while her case is pending. She was able to pay a bail bondsman the $5,000 fee necessary to stay out of jail thanks to donations from supporters across the country who were outraged by her situation.”

    What can we do? Even if she gets the illegal search dropped this woman wrote a book called “Live Free or Die” and posted on Youtube how to grow and process your own medibles. Without a pardon from President Obama, she’s facing 8-37 years in prison. Please sign the petition at Change.org and we can make a new one petitioning the president for a pardon when she gets sentenced.
    This is a national disgrace. We can’t allow our government to continue to terrorize and separate families with lies about marijuana for some colluded beurocratic profit. Please use the links above and #supportShona.

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  14. While reading the annual report issued by the DEA a few years ago, the DEA cited that marijuana comprised more than 50% of all illegal substance use. I mused that if states continued on a path toward overturning the prohibition of marijuana, then the DEA would eventually provide a report indicating a decline in seizures. The inevitable outcome of continued efforts to overturn prohibition leads me to speculate on the future of the DEA.

    Reply

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