The Drug War

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. 

4 states have legalized recreational use; another 20+ allow access to medical marijuana.

And the new head of the DEA, Chuck Rosenberg, thinks that marijuana is less harmful than heroin (duh!) but that it should not be taken off of Schedule I.  

WTF? We have a serious disconnect here. Obama should fire that moron. 

Meanwhile, the drug war continues to rage.

$51 Billion

This is the amount that the U.S. spends on the war on drugs annually. 

1.53 million

The number of people arrested annually on nonviolent drug charges.

757,696

The number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation annually.

87%

The percentage of marijuana law violations that were arrested for possession only, approximately 659,195 people.

70,000

The number of people killed in Mexico’s drug war since 2006.

200,000

The number of students who have lost federal financial aid eligibility because of a drug conviction.

31,758

The number of people in the U.S. that die each year from an accidental drug overdose.

0

The number of people in the world that have died from marijuana overdose.

19 minutes

Every 19 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies from accidental drug overdose, legal or otherwise.

$46.7 billion

The dollar value of the tax revenue that drug legalization would yield annually. Coupled with the cost of the war on drugs, legalization would save the government nearly $100 billion.. 

Original.