In some news that is slightly baffling, the DEA upped its confiscation game in 2021, up 22% in confiscation and 32% in arrests from the year before.
However, as we all know too well, 2020 was an anomaly for most statistics, so it would be more accurate to compare 2021’s numbers to 2019.
Even with that comparison, 2021 shows higher numbers. A little over 4 million plants were seized in 2019 compared to 5.5 million last year. That year was a 43% increase from 2018, so we’ve been on an upward trend for at least three years now (with 2020 remaining the exception).
It’s unclear as to why there’s such an uptick on action from the DEA, considering the reduction in arrests coming from every other federal division, including the FBI. One reason could be that production of illicit marijuana has shot up in the months after the pandemic when it was seen to be extremely lucrative. Another could be that the DEA is taking a hard stance against the illicit market and is feeling backed up by its passive stance on the legal one. Perhaps it’s a mixture of the two.
Either way, this isn’t a good look for the federal government, and will certainly fall back onto Biden’s reputation with marijuana since he’s been in office, which so far has been rather bleak.
Read the original article at Marijuana Moment.
