“Marijuana raids used to make up a large percentage of our drug enforcement activities. With the legalization of marijuana, there has been a significant drop in those types of raids.”
By Brett Rowland and Tom Gantert, The Center Square
Drug raids in Detroit have fallen 95 percent since a peak in 2012, largely as a result of voters’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana and shifting other police priorities.
Detroit police conducted 3,462 drug raids in fiscal year 2012. Nearly every year since then, that number has declined. Last year, police conducted 186 drug raids, according to the city’s annual financial report.
The 95 percent decline in drug raids in the city is the result of a combination of factors, Detroit police officials said. One clear factor: Voters approved a 2018 ballot measure to legalize recreational use and possession of marijuana for those 21 and older and imposed a tax on marijuana sales. The measure passed with 56 percent of voters supporting it.
Detroit Police Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald said a significant number of the department’s drug raids used to involve marijuana.
“Marijuana raids used to make up a large percentage of our drug enforcement activities,” he said. “With the legalization
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