Reducing America’s high incarceration rate is a lofty goal, and one that I wholeheartedly support. But legalizing marijuana will not make even a small dent in America’s state or federal imprisonment rates. That is because less than 0.3 percent of all state prison inmates are there for smoking marijuana.
Moreover, most people arrested for marijuana use are cited with a ticket. Very few serve time behind bars unless it is in the context of another crime or a probation or parole violation. At the same time, society shouldn’t saddle low-level marijuana users with criminal records. But legalizing marijuana in order to solve that problem is not the answer.
