More than 218,000 marijuana-related arrests were reported across the United States in 2025, an increase of nearly 7% from the previous year, according to newly updated data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The increase comes even as more states loosen their cannabis laws and the federal government moves toward rescheduling marijuana.

The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer lists 200,960 arrests for marijuana possession and 17,192 for marijuana sales or manufacturing, bringing the combined total to 218,152.

Possession accounted for approximately 92% of all marijuana arrests, representing an average of roughly 550 possession arrests each day.

In 2024, law enforcement agencies reported 187,792 marijuana possession arrests and 16,244 sales or manufacturing arrests, for a combined total of 204,036. That means possession arrests increased by 7%, while sales and manufacturing arrests rose by nearly 6%.

Marijuana arrests represented approximately one-quarter of the 845,031 arrests classified by the FBI as drug abuse violations in 2025. Marijuana also accounted for more arrests than any other individually identified substance in the federal data.

The increase occurred as the country’s broader crime rate moved in the opposite direction. The FBI reported that violent crime declined by an estimated 9.3% in 2025, including an 18.1% reduction in murders and an 18.5% drop in robberies.

Despite last year’s increase, marijuana arrests remain substantially below their historical peak. Law enforcement agencies reported more than 870,000 marijuana arrests in 2007, nearly four times the 2025 total. Since then, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana, while nearly every state allows some form of medical marijuana.

The latest national figures were compiled from information submitted by more than 17,000 state, county, city, tribal and university law enforcement agencies covering 96.2% of the U.S. population. Participation in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program is voluntary, meaning the totals do not capture every marijuana arrest nationwide.

The FBI also counts each arrest, citation or summons as a separate instance. As a result, the figures represent enforcement actions rather than the number of unique individuals arrested.