Frankfort, KY: Over 300,000 Kentuckians have been charged with violating state marijuana laws since 2002, according to an analysis provided by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
Over 90 percent of those charged were accused of violating marijuana possession laws – a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 45 days in jail and a criminal record. About 59 percent of those charged with violating state marijuana laws were convicted.
“All told, one out of 10 of the 3.1 million people charged with a crime in Kentucky in [this] time period (June 2002 to July 2022) faced cannabis charges,” the report’s authors wrote. “Kentucky should recognize the ongoing harms of an incarceration-based approach and begin moving toward a system that regulates and taxes cannabis use.”
“Even one marijuana possession arrest is one too many, much less over 300,000,” said Kentucky NORML Executive Director Matthew Bratcher. “These arrests and prosecutions disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of good, hard-working people, while simultaneously diverting police and prosecutorial resources away from the enforcement of serious criminal activity. It’s time to pivot away from these failed punitive policies of prohibition and embrace one of legalization, regulation, and education.”
Full text of the report is available from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. Additional information is available from Kentucky NORML.