(3)

In 2005, the federal government spent $12.2 billion on the Office of National Drug Control Policy alone (ONDCP, 1) while federal, state, and local governments combined spending exceeded $30 billion (National Research Counsel, 1).  Much of this money is spent to incarcerate marijuana users due to the existing laws and the existence of mandatory minimums.  Since the war on drugs began, ten million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses, around 250,000 have been convicted of marijuana felonies and been sent to prison for at least a year.  In 2001 alone, 724,000 individuals were arrested for violating marijuana laws and 90% of these arrests were for simple possession of marijuana.  This is a costly endeavor as it costs between $20,000 and $30,000 to keep a prisoner behind bars for one year.