TX focus on pot enforcement expanded since turn of century

The number of marijuana arrests in Texas increased by 38.5% over the first decade of the 21st century, according to a new report (pdf) by the national ACLU. By contrast, the 2010 state population was just 21% higher than in the 2000 census, meaning pot enforcement expanded significantly more than can be accounted for by population growth. (In some jurisdictions, like Austin, the volume of marijuana charges has grown at even greater rates.)

Texas law enforcement made 20,681 more marijuana arrests in 2010 than in 2001, according to the report, or 74,286 arrests total. Black folks made up about 26% of Texas pot arrests; by comparison, they make up 12% of the state population.

In New York and Texas, the two states with the most marijuana arrests in 2010, 97% were for possession, said the report.

All that said, the Lone Star State is less focused on marijuana enforcement than some jurisdictions. Texas ranked 15th in the rate of its citizens arrested for marijuana at 295 per 100,000, though that still comes in above the national average (256). Pot arrests were highest in D.C. (846), New York (535) and oddly, Nebraska (417).

See the full report (pdf) for much more detail, these are just the Texas-specific highlights.

Via Unfair Park. MORE: From the Austin Statesman.