In fact, more often than once every minute, someone is arrested and put in a cage for marijuana possession.

Many prohibitionists and mainstream media commentators insist that police have a hands-off strategy with marijuana and that small time users never actually do any time under the current laws. However, this assessment could not be further from the truth. Marijuana possession is actually one of the most common reasons for someone to be behind bars.

According to data released this week by the FBI over 620,000 people were arrested for simple possession in the past year. This number averages out to 1,700 people per day, or one person every 51 seconds. These numbers don't even consider the many unreported arrests that take place throughout the country each year. The numbers also seem to indicate that as some states are legalizing marijuana, other states are cracking down even more in response.