Why is the DEA now arresting people for cannabis more often now that it’s legalized everywhere?

Now that cannabis is legalized, why is the DEA arresting people more often?

It’s 2022, there’s talk of legalizing cannabis at the federal level, people are even working on decriminalizing psychedelics… and then there’s Uncle Sam. More specifically, the DEA — the armed wing of the drug war that uses taxpayer dollars to prosecute people who choose to consume, grow, or sell a plant.

Yes, in 2022 – the DEA sets records for human arrests and cannabis seizures. There could be a number of reasons for this, and if you think the DEA won’t be able to change form after legalization, you’re wrong.

Today we’re going to take a closer look at how the DEA has behaved over the past year and how it might direct its activities in accordance with the law – unless we do something about it.

First, let’s take a look at the seizure statistics for 2022.

DEA steps up the war as it nears its end?

According to figures released in the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program Statistical Report, agents and their partners seized about 5.53 million cultivated cannabis plants last year — a 20 percent increase from the 2020 total. Law enforcement agencies also reported of 6,606 marijuana-related arrests, a 25 percent increase over last year’s totals (when agents reported 4,992 arrests) … for one facility. – The Free Thought Project

There are several ways we can analyze this data. I think it’s only fair to take an objective look at what’s happening.

A 20-25% increase in overall arrests from 2020 could be a skewed statistic due to the nature of 2020. Throughout 2020, the entire world entered the initial stages of lockdown. This meant that even law enforcement agencies were restricted in their freedom of movement and consequently it could be argued that there was a decrease in arrests and seizures.

In 2022, the world is pretty much back to “normal” when it comes to work. Everyone’s back to doing what they’re doing – and for the DEA, that means ruining lives to protect Big Pharma’s interests.

While this is a plausible line of reasoning, there is a major flaw in the logic.

These numbers are record-breaking and are the highest since 2011 – before any states had legal weed. Since then, arrests have declined, but 2021 saw a renewed surge as bullies who worshiped the police state increased their hatred of this amazing plant and the people who choose to grow it. – Free thought project

If we were to compare the arrest records of 2022 to 2020, we could assume that due to the C19 pandemic, the police have been limited in their activities and there have been fewer arrests and seizures as a result that the strong arm of the drug war is still very much alive and active .

Legalization of cannabis is not enough!

First, while legalizing and decriminalizing cannabis is a step in the right direction, just legalizing this one plant is not enough. Dissolving the DEA completely and ending the war on drugs is crucial. There is no evidence that the “best way” to deal with drug use and abuse is to throw people in jail.

In fact, we have a mountain of evidence to suggest that the entire system is leading to higher rates of drug use and abuse, while at the same time creating a transnational criminal organization in an endless Whack-a-Mole conflict.

For this reason, I advocate the decriminalization, legalization and regulation of drugs that are commercial or sold in the market for profit. I believe that people should be able to grow, collect, or give away any substance of their choice without committing any legal violations.

Only in the public spotlight can we reduce the risks of drug use, educate people, and bring a “lost social revenue stream” back into the public interest.

We must end the drug war and crush the DEA that inspired bloody wars in countries like Colombia, Mexico, Afghanistan and many others that have collectively claimed millions of lives. Not to mention the mass incarceration of entire communities destroyed by the actions of tyrannical politics.

It’s time to end the politics of people from a bygone era when drug users were vilified, women’s rights were oppressed, and slave-owning was considered “good for business.”

If we don’t dismantle this monster before full legalization kicks in, I fear the strong arm of the drug war will simply evolve and adapt.

The future of the DEA under legalization

The DEA is an entity, and like any entity, it just wants to exist. Unfortunately, the DEA’s purpose is to be an “enforcer” of drug policy, which is essentially under the control of Big Pharma. Nixon’s declaration of war included the condition that drug control be taken over by drug companies.

The same drug companies that knowingly sold talcum powder to mothers, which gave them cervical cancer, and the same drug companies that encouraged doctors to overprescribe opioids under the guise that it was “not as addictive.”

These for-profit corporations that sell cheap drugs at premium prices…sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars for a simple treatment-that are billed directly to the taxpayer through the healthcare system.

Yes, these are the people who sit at the forefront of all drug regulation. These are the people who fund the FDA, bribe doctors into prescribing their drugs, and of course, flood your TVs with ads.

Interestingly, the question “Who Owns Big Pharma” comes up with two strange answers.

Still, Pharma was tasked with “ensuring our medicines are readily available and safe,” while the DEA was created as a means of enforcing those rules. In principle, any independent producer or “dealer” would be immediately branded a criminal and could be lawfully prosecuted.

20 million prisoners later and we now have the DEA stoking the drug war once again. However, people are starting to narrow their domain. As activists around the world decriminalize and legalize drugs, they are forced to adapt.

Under legality, this would mean they would continue to go after the “unlicensed” suppliers, vendors and consumers. While their eradication program still includes all cannabis as it is still illegal at the federal level as of this writing, it could easily be changed to say “Illegal” and they would still receive their funding.

This is the same animal with a different hat, and they will continue to be a part of our drug policy problem.

There is only one solution.

End the drug war, abolish the DEA and remove the drug monopoly

If we want to evolve as a society, it is time to abandon the “old ways”. Pharma has proven over the last five decades that as a private sector it really cannot be “trusted”. They have way too much power in politics, news, regulatory processes, politicians, etc.

They put profits before people and use the law to suppress alternatives to their solutions. The only way we can recover from the drug war is to eliminate the mechanisms that make it happen. That is;

1. Abolition of the pharmaceutical monopoly on medicines (cancellation of the CSA)

2. Dismantle the DEA – or turn it into a regulator instead, but by all means take their guns out!

3. Make All Current Big Pharma Nonprofits – We need to remove the profit incentive from healthcare. If you work in these sectors, money cannot be a driving factor as we have seen the pharmaceutical industry abuse its powers and spread its influence too widely.

I know that sounds extreme to some. But you have to remember that the Controlled Substance Act is extreme. It is designed to limit individual sovereignty (My body my choice) while empowering a select group of elites and using the power of the state to keep competition in check.

Does that sound like a “fair system” of “equal representation” to you? It definitely doesn’t work for me.

So what’s the solution?

It’s time to take action at the local level – become city councillors, run for offices at various levels of local government – and then change local laws. It is possible to bring about real change at the local level, and if enough people “drop out” of the drug war… the system will collapse.

As for the whole “big pharma problem,” grassroots movements can fix them, too.

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