The US Drug Enforcement Administration and its law enforcement partners arrested fewer people for cannabis-related offenses in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to annual data from the federal agency. The DEA also seized nearly 6 million cannabis plants from illicit marijuana grows across the country last year, slightly more than the number of illegal cannabis plants seized by federal law enforcement officers in 2021.
According to the DEA’s yearly Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program Statistical Report, the agency and its law enforcement partners confiscated 5.7 million marijuana plants through its nationwide eradication operations, an increase of 3% over last year’s total. Federal interdiction operations also resulted in the confiscation of approximately 37,000 THC-infused edible products and about 60,000 cannabis concentrates.
According to the annual report from the DEA, the agency’s cannabis eradication efforts in 2022 were “responsible for the eradication of 4,435,859 illegally cultivated outdoor cannabis plants and 1,245,980 illegally cultivated indoor plants for a total of 5,681,839 illegally cultivated marijuana plants. The program also removed 2,840 weapons from cannabis cultivators.”
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