 | Research: Recorded cannabis offences down 19%; NZ still Number One pot-arresting country |
 The official NZ Police crime statistics for the 2004-2005 fiscal year are out, and a 3-year trend for reduced marijuana offences is continuing.
The number of marijuana offences dropped 19.8% from 18,271 to 14,654 but still make up 80 per cent of all drug arrests, and New Zealand has retained it's position as the top marijuana-arresting nation on earth, with 358 arrests per year per 100,000 population.
The NORML Arrest-o-meter has been updated to reflect the new figures.
New Zealand Drug Offences
| Year |
Other drugs |
Cannabis-only |
| 1998 |
1583 (5.9 %) |
25309 (94.1 %) |
| 1999 |
1640 (6.2 %) |
24687 (93.8 %) |
| 2000 |
2070 (8.4 %) |
22660 (91.6 %) |
| 2001 |
2212 (8.9 %) |
22740 (91.1 %) |
| 2002 |
2841 (11.9 %) |
21034 (88.1 %) |
| 2003 |
3545 (15.1 %) |
19897 (84.8 %) |
| 2004 |
3502 (17.6 %) |
16409 (82.4 %) |
| Source: Police
Crime statistics |
It seems that the police have further downgraded the priority of marijuana, and instead are increasing the attention they give to other drugs and types of crimes. Offences for Methamphetamine (including 'P'), Amphetamine, Ecstasy and Fantasy type substances rose 8.1% over the same period, from 1,983 offences in 2003/04 to 2,145 offences in 2004/05.
Total reported crime was 396,018 offences, with marijuana making up 3.7% of all reported crime. The total number of crimes resolved was 174,937. Because most marijuana "criminals" plead guilty, they make up 7.9% of all resolved crimes and therefore help improve overall police figures.
Some good news is that for the first time ever, arrests for serious assaults have outweighed arrests for marijuana, a victimless crime. Usually more Kiwis are arrested for marijuana than for more serious crimes such as assault, but in 2004-05, there were 38.4 arrests per 100,000 population for assault, compared to 35.8 arrests per 100,000 population for marijuana.
Recorded 2004-05, Variance 03/04-04/05, Resolved 2004-05, Percent Resolved 2004-05.
Drugs (Cannabis Only) 14,654 -19.8 % 13,869 94.6 %
Drugs (New Drugs) 2,145 8.2 % 2,012 93.8 %
Drugs (Not Cannabis) 1,481 -25.8 % 1,235 83.4 %
Recorded per 10,000 pop 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05
Drugs (Cannabis Only) 52.0 45.2 35.8
Drugs (New Drugs) n/a 4.9 5.2
Drugs (Not Cannabis) 7.8 4.9 3.6
Total drugs 59.8 55.0 44.6
Marijuana makes up 80 per cent of all drug arrests (compared to 87% two years ago and 82% last year)
To get figures that compare with the US, we can multiply these figures above by 10 to get offences per 100,000 population.
The NZ arrest rate (cannabis only) is 358 per 100,000 population per year.
The US as a whole is 260 arrests per 100,000 population per year. (755200 arrests into a 290m population)
(source: Justice Policy Institute; US Dept of Justice)
So despite the significant drop, New Zealand is still world Number One in marijuana arrests. It is a record that we should be ashamed of.
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