Washington, DC: Federal law enforcement agents are seizing far less marijuana at the southern border today than they were in past years, according to newly released data provided by the US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection.
Federal statistics reveal that agents confiscated an estimated 1.5 million pounds of marijuana at the US/Mexico border in 2015. That total is the lowest amount reported in a decade and continues the steady decline in seizure volume that began in 2009, when nearly 4 million pounds of cannabis were confiscated.
Overall, 99.8 percent of all marijuana seized by federal border patrol agents was seized at the southern border.
It has been previously reported that increases in US cannabis production, particularly the rise of state-authorized commercial growing in jurisdictions like Colorado, has significantly undercut US demand for Mexican-grown marijuana.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, or Danielle Keane, NORML Political Director, at (202) 483-5500.