Marijuana Busts Still Costing Millions Of Taxpayer Dollars

Marijuana Arrests Still Costing Chicago Taxpayers Millions
A man prepares a marijuana cigar during a march for its decriminalization in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on May 4, 2013, in the framework of the Marijuana World Day. AFP PHOTO/Raul ARBOLEDA (Photo credit should read RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)
A man prepares a marijuana cigar during a march for its decriminalization in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on May 4, 2013, in the framework of the Marijuana World Day. AFP PHOTO/Raul ARBOLEDA (Photo credit should read RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

On Monday Illinois's financial health deteriorated a little more. The Fitch Ratings agency downgraded the state's bond rating, noting the ongoing "mismatch between spending and revenues"—that is, the state's inability to pay its bills. Moody's Investor Service soon followed suit.

Coincidentally, the ACLU made headlines that same day with a report on the astounding volume of marijuana busts nationwide. In 2010 police across the country made more than 784,000 arrests for pot possession—one every 37 seconds.

On first glance the issues may appear unrelated. But you don't have to be smoking anything to see that they're actually intertwined, for the simple reason that the crackdown on small-time marijuana users has become staggeringly expensive.

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