Washington, DC: Seizures of indoor and outdoor cannabis crops by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fell slightly in 2015, according to annual data compiled by the federal anti-drug agency.
According to the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Statistical Report, agents confiscated 4.25 million marijuana plants nationwide in 2015. That total is less than the total reported by the agency for the year 2014 (4.3 million) and continues the ongoing decline in eradication totals since 2010, when the agency reported eliminating some 10.3 million plants.
As in past years, the DEA’s eradication efforts primarily targeted California. Of the total number of plants confiscated nationwide by the DEA in 2015, 62 percent (2.64 million) were seized in California. By contrast, DEA agents seized fewer than 150 total plants in three states (Delaware, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) and reported zero seizures in Utah.
Only about seven percent of all of the marijuana plants seized by the DEA in 2015 were confiscated 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.
The agency also reported seizing nearly $30 million in related assets during their confiscation operations.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.