A report by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML) found similar results. The report also concluded that the cost of marijuana
enforcement in the United States is an average of $10,400 for each pot smoker arrested.
American taxpayers cover this staggering cost. NORML also claims that marijuana
arrests over the past two decades have failed to have any impact on marijuana use rates or
other indicators chosen by drug enforcers to measure “success” in the war on drugs. The
study also found arrests to be disproportionately heavy towards the young and non-white.
NORML refers to current marijuana policies as “wholly ineffective at controlling the use
and sale of marijuana” (NORML 2009). As marijuana arrest rates have increased, this
increase has “not been associated with a reduction in marijuana use, reduced marijuana
availability, a reduction in the number of new marijuana users, reduced treatment
admissions, reduced emergency room mentions of marijuana, any reduction in marijuana
potency, or any increases in the price of marijuana.”