September 2015 – California recorded 19,711 marijuana arrests in 2014, down slightly from 20,346 in 2013. This included 13,300 felonies and 6,411 misdemeanors. (An unknown additional number of Californians were cited for non-criminal possession infractions.)
Arrests have been steadily declining since 2008 and are now at their lowest level since 1966.
Latinos led the state with 43% of arrests, followed by whites at 31% and blacks at 16%. Latinos slightly outnumber whites in California, while blacks are strongly overrepresented among arrestees, as they account for just 7% of the state’s population.
Meanwhile, DUI arrests continued a six-year decline, dropping 4% to 156,322. DUIs have been declining even as the number of drivers testing positive for marijuana has increased, suggesting that marijuana use is not a major traffic safety hazard.
