State
|
Penalties
|
Penalties (1 ounce)
|
Arrest Rate
|
Arrest Rate of Users
|
Past Month Use
|
Past Month Use (Age
12 to 17) |
Past Year Use
|
Past Year Use (Age
12 to 17) |
Alabama | 19 | 3 | 22 | 18 | 48 | 47 | 47 | 47 |
Alaska | 46 | 12 | 48 | 49 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 11 |
Arizona | 12 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 35 | 38 | 34 | 28 |
Arkansas | 3 | 3 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 29 | 23 | 25 |
California | 46 | 12 | 41 | 42 | 17 | 27 | 17 | 23 |
Colorado | 41 | 12 | 27 | 35 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
Connecticut | 19 | 3 | 37 | 39 | 20 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
Delaware | 34 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 27 | 17 | 28 |
District Of Columbia | 34 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 21 |
Florida (1) | 1 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 30 | 24 | 34 | 28 |
Georgia | 4 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 27 | 43 | 29 | 39 |
Hawaii | 42 | 9 | 51 | 46 | 35 | 24 | 39 | 17 |
Idaho | 14 | 3 | 33 | 25 | 32 | 36 | 43 | 43 |
Illinois | 9 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 36 | 33 | 43 |
Indiana | 9 | 3 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 15 | 29 | 33 |
Iowa | 34 | 4 | 34 | 22 | 51 | 44 | 50 | 48 |
Kansas | 19 | 3 | 30 | 27 | 29 | 22 | 31 | 31 |
Kentucky | 19 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 19 | 25 | 16 |
Louisiana | 34 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 25 | 37 |
Maine | 45 | 12 | 31 | 40 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
Maryland | 19 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 39 | 31 | 33 |
Massachusetts | 46 | 12 | 47 | 48 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Michigan | 19 | 3 | 44 | 45 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 17 |
Minnesota | 13 | 12 | 35 | 36 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 25 |
Mississippi | 29 | 12 | 14 | 4 | 47 | 50 | 49 | 50 |
Missouri | 6 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 33 |
Montana | 2 | 4 | 50 | 50 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
Nebraska | 50 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 41 | 45 | 41 | 49 |
Nevada | 16 | 12 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 17 |
New Hampshire | 19 | 3 | 28 | 44 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
New Jersey | 30 | 4 | 23 | 24 | 46 | 39 | 38 | 36 |
New Mexico | 44 | 10 | 38 | 37 | 13 | 5 | 17 | 7 |
New York | 40 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 15 |
North Carolina | 33 | 6 | 20 | 19 | 35 | 33 | 37 | 38 |
North Dakota | 7 | 3 | 36 | 28 | 44 | 49 | 43 | 39 |
Ohio | 51 | 12 | 40 | 38 | 21 | 18 | 20 | 12 |
Oklahoma | 19 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 40 | 33 | 46 | 39 |
Oregon | 4 | 12 | 32 | 41 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
Pennsylvania | 42 | 9 | 39 | 33 | 41 | 30 | 36 | 25 |
Rhode Island | 19 | 3 | 43 | 47 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
South Carolina | 11 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 45 | 48 | 41 | 45 |
South Dakota | 17 | 3 | 42 | 32 | 35 | 39 | 43 | 39 |
Tennessee | 19 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 27 | 33 | 25 | 31 |
Texas | 32 | 5 | 21 | 12 | 49 | 45 | 48 | 45 |
Utah | 31 | 4 | 46 | 31 | 50 | 51 | 51 | 51 |
Vermont | 18 | 4 | 49 | 51 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Virginia | 49 | 9 | 25 | 29 | 17 | 11 | 23 | 21 |
Washington | 8 | 8 | 26 | 34 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 14 |
West Virginia | 34 | 4 | 45 | 43 | 35 | 30 | 40 | 24 |
Wisconsin | 34 | 4 | 18 | 23 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 20 |
Wyoming | 14 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 10 |
Notes:
The District of Columbia, Florida, and Illinois do not provide data to the national Uniform Crime Reporting Program. DC and IL data reported above were obtained from the respective city and state governments. (see below)
Wyoming arrest rate and related ranking are based on 2006 data.
To simplify comparisons, for some states the 1 ounce penalty category covers amounts just under 1 ounce. Penalty Rankings are based on the severity of punishment and were calculated based on the maximum number of days allowed by state law for the listed quantities of marijuana. The overall ranking is based on a weighted index for the four quantity levels. The weighting used in this index was: 70% for penalties for 1 ounce and 10% each for the penalties for 2, 3, and 4 ounces.
(1) Florida marijuana arrests were estimated at 40% of total drug arrests for this table.
Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data, Research & Analysis Branch – Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Departmemt, Illinois State Police and Chicago Police Department
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
ImpacTeen Illicit Drug Team. Illicit drug policies: Selected laws from the 50 states. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University, 2002. http://www.impacteen.org/generalarea_PDFs/IDTchartbook032103.pdf
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). State by State Laws. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516
Selected State Criminal Codes