For our latest edition of Take 3 For Politics, PolitiFact Oregon reporter Dana Tims and I discuss a fact-check on a claim made by New Approach Oregon, the group campaigning to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
In campaign literature and on its website, New Approach Oregon says police “arrested” 12,808 people in 2012 for marijuana-related crimes. The group makes the claim twice in a media packet and two more times in a “Myth vs. Fact” section on its website, newapproachoregon.com.
The group claims that in 2012, the latest statistics available, 12,808 people were arrested in Oregon for marijuana crimes. Here’s one of the examples, from a “Myth vs. Fact” section on the group’s website:
“Myth: Most of the statistics of marijuana ‘arrests and citations’ are simple citations. They are like speeding or not signaling the right way. They take very little resources.
“Reality: More than half of the drug-related arrests made in Oregon are for marijuana. (Source: Oregon State Police, page 4-10). In 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, 21,856 people were arrested for drug crimes, and 12,808 of them were for marijuana.”
More than 12,000 in one year? That seemed like a lot, especially since Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts years ago. PolitiFact Oregon decided to check it out.
Read the ruling here.
–Ian K. Kullgren, Dana Tims
Fact-checking marijuana campaign's claim: Take 3 For Politics (video)
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