Key Takeaways
- In 2025, over 200,000 Americans faced marijuana arrests, concentrated in ten states, with Texas leading at 29,000 arrests.
- These arrests primarily target low-level possession, not trafficking, highlighting enforcement on consumers rather than suppliers.
- Five states, including North Carolina and Georgia, each reported over 12,000 marijuana arrests, all labeling possession as a criminal offense.
- Conversely, some states like Vermont and Montana logged fewer than 100 possession arrests, indicating significant regional disparities in enforcement.
- Overall, the geography of marijuana arrests reveals that reform efforts should focus on specific states to reduce the national total.
We already covered the headline number: more than 200,000 Americans were arrested for cannabis in 2025, even as legal markets kept expanding. That story stands. What NORML’s new breakdown adds is location. The arrests are not spread evenly across the map. They cluster in a handful of states, and the gap between the heaviest enforcers and the lightest ones has become hard to ignore.
This piece turns that data into a state-by-state resource. You will see which ten states carried most of the load, how Texas alone accounted for about 14% of the national figure, and which states reported fewer than 100 possession arrests all year. If you want a clear read on where cannabis enforcement still bites, this is your map.
Which Ten States Accounted for 60% of Marijuana Arrests in 2025?
Police in ten states combined to make over 131,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2025, according to the latest FBI data compiled by NORML. That figure represents roughly 60% of every marijuana arrest recorded nationwide.
Here is the group, ranked by total marijuana arrests:
- Texas: more than 29,000
- North Carolina: 12,733
- Georgia: 12,247
- Pennsylvania: 12,238
- Tennessee: 12,099
- Wisconsin: 12,050
- South Carolina: 10,634
- Indiana: 9,804
- Louisiana: 9,275
- Alabama: 8,583
Every one of these states still treats low-level marijuana possession as a criminal offense. Across the group, possession accounted for the overwhelming majority of arrests, not sales or manufacturing. That pattern matters because it shows enforcement falling on consumers, not on the supply chain.
A quick note on the numbers. NORML’s possession-only graphic lists slightly different figures for some states because it strips out sale and manufacturing cases. The totals above reflect all marijuana-related arrests. Either way, the same ten states sit at the top.
Why Did Texas Lead the Nation in Marijuana Arrests?
Texas recorded more than 29,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2025, about 14% of the national total. No other state came close. That single-state figure is larger than the combined output of several prohibition states put together.
The detail that stands out: 98% of those Texas arrests were for simple possession. This was not a crackdown on trafficking. It was consumers getting caught with small amounts.
Under Texas law, low-level cannabis possession is a criminal misdemeanor. A conviction can carry up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. For a plant that adults can legally buy a short drive away in New Mexico or Colorado, that penalty gap says a lot about how much geography still decides the outcome.
What Did the Five States Clustered Above 12,000 Arrests Have in Common?
Below Texas sat a tight pack. Five states each reported more than 12,000 marijuana arrests in 2025: North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The spread between them was narrow, from 12,050 up to 12,733.
In each of these five states, 90% or more of those arrested faced possession charges only. All five classify low-level possession as a criminal offense, and four of the five can still put people in jail for it.
Pennsylvania stands out in this group because it has a medical program and years of local decriminalization efforts, yet the statewide arrest count stayed high. Wisconsin remains one of the few Upper Midwest holdouts with no adult-use or comprehensive medical law, which helps explain its place near the top.
Why Does Louisiana Stand Out in the Arrest Data?
Louisiana logged 9,275 marijuana arrests, but its most striking number is a ratio. Over 62% of all drug-related arrests in the state in 2025 were for marijuana possession, the highest share of any state in the country.
That means marijuana was not a side note in Louisiana drug enforcement. It was the main event.
The state is also moving in the opposite direction from most of the country. In June, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB 568 into law, raising penalties for cannabis possession in certain circumstances to a felony. That charge can carry one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. While two dozen states have pulled back on possession enforcement, Louisiana chose to sharpen it.
Which States Reported Fewer Than 100 Marijuana Possession Arrests?
Here is the other side of the map. In the 24 states that have legalized cannabis for adults, possession arrests have dropped close to zero. Five states reported fewer than 100 marijuana possession arrests for the entire year:
- Vermont: 16
- Montana: 35
- Alaska: 92
- Maine: 96
- Rhode Island: 99
Set those figures against Texas. Vermont recorded 16 possession arrests in 2025. Texas recorded more than 29,000 total. That is the contrast at the heart of this data. Same plant, wildly different consequences, decided by which state line you happen to be standing on.
Legalization does not automatically zero out arrests, though. Two legal jurisdictions bucked the trend. Illinois reported 5,731 possession arrests, largely tied to strict container and transport rules for drivers. Washington, D.C. reported 1,336. Legal status helps, but the fine print in each state still shapes who gets stopped.
What Does the National Arrest Total Actually Tell Us?
Police made at least 218,152 marijuana-related arrests in 2025, based on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Possession made up the vast majority of those cases.
Read that number as a floor, not a ceiling. Roughly 13% of law enforcement agencies did not report their arrest data to the FBI for 2025, so real activity in those jurisdictions is missing from the count. The total also leaves out an unknown number of cannabis cases buried inside the tens of thousands of “unspecified drug abuse violations” the FBI tracks separately.
Put simply, the true figure is higher than 218,152. How much higher is anyone’s guess.
Why the Geography Matters More Than the Headline Number
The top-line story has been consistent for a while now. Cannabis arrests remain above 200,000 a year despite legalization sweeping the country. NORML’s breakdown sharpens that story by showing where those arrests live.
As NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano put it, “Today, the threat of arrest for cannabis possession largely comes down to geography.” He noted that in nearly half the states, low-level arrests have fallen close to zero, while elsewhere police “continue to disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives and waste countless tax dollars” on conduct most Americans no longer consider criminal.
For advocates, operators and consumers, the takeaway is practical. Reform pressure now has a clear address. Ten states drive the majority of the problem, and a small group of prohibition holdouts keeps the national number stubbornly high. Change the laws in that cluster, and the national arrest total falls fast.
If you want to track how your state stacks up, NORML maintains a full state-by-state arrest library, and we will keep following the data as fresh FBI releases land.
Frequently Asked Questions
Police made at least 218,152 marijuana-related arrests in the US in 2025, according to FBI Crime Data Explorer figures compiled by NORML. That total is an undercount, because about 13% of law enforcement agencies did not report their data.
Texas had the most marijuana arrests in 2025, with more than 29,000. That was about 14% of the national total, and 98% of those arrests were for simple possession.
The ten states were Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Indiana, Louisiana and Alabama. Together they logged more than 131,000 marijuana arrests, roughly 60% of the national total.
Five states reported fewer than 100 marijuana possession arrests in 2025: Vermont with 16, Montana with 35, Alaska with 92, Maine with 96, and Rhode Island with 99. All five have legalized cannabis for adults.
Yes. Most legal states have driven possession arrests close to zero, but a few still report higher numbers. Illinois recorded 5,731 possession arrests in 2025, and Washington, D.C. reported 1,336, largely because of strict transport and container rules.
