Marijuana Arrests Rose for the First Time in a Decade, and Almost All of the Increase Was Black

Marijuana is legal for adults in a long list of states, and in 2025 the number of people arrested for having it went up anyway. The advocacy group FWD.us counted 201,273 possession arrests, an increase of more than 11,000 from 2024, which it called the first increase in at least a decade.

Legalization changed what the law says. It did not change who gets stopped.

Two numbers in the report get quoted together and they are not the same measurement, so keep them apart. Black people made up 45 percent of all cannabis arrests in 2025, measured against the full 201,273. And Black people accounted for 83 percent of the increase, which is measured against the roughly 11,000 additional arrests, a much smaller base. Small bases swing percentages, and 83 percent of a small number is still a few thousand people. The more durable figure is the rate: 182 arrests per 100,000 Black residents against 41 per 100,000 white residents, a gap of roughly four to one. According to the report’s summary, usage rates are similar across racial groups, though arrest rates are not a direct measure of use. The geography matters too: the report says three-quarters of the increase came from eight southern states, and arrests in Washington, D.C. more than doubled.

I read this through Marijuana Moment’s summary and have not independently audited FWD.us’s underlying data, which the article does not name. Treat the figures as the group’s count until you check the primary report. The group’s executive director, Zoë Towns, said “it is time for federal, state, and local leaders to course-correct.”

If you work in treatment or case management, a possession charge is not a side detail in your intake. It can be a court date that conflicts with a bed, a probation condition that decides which program a client can enter, or a reason someone stops answering their phone. This week, add one question to your intake: is there a pending charge or a court date in the next 60 days, and who is the lawyer? If the answer is nobody, a public defender’s office is the first call.

If you are the one holding the charge, the arrest does not have to be the last word on your recovery. Ask for a lawyer before you talk.

The war on drugs ended in a lot of statehouses. Somebody should tell the patrol cars.