The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the nation’s leading cannabis policy organization, released a comprehensive new report detailing the landscape of cannabis arrests in the United States.
Based on FBI Crime Explorer data and data from the State Police compiled by the ACLU, Illinois is the only legalization state where possession arrests have actually increased post-legalization, rising by 3.4%. On average, 15 Illinois residents are arrested for cannabis-related offenses every single day.
Further, the findings reveal that Illinois now holds the highest cannabis arrest rate per capita of any legalization state in the country. For every 100,000 residents in Illinois, officers made 54.16 arrests for cannabis offenses. Three prohibition states — Hawaii, Florida, and New Hampshire — had fewer cannabis arrests per capita than Illinois in 2025.
Unlike most legalization states, Illinois continues to prohibit adult-use consumers from growing their own cannabis. Additionally, the state upholds a strict requirement that cannabis be stored in a “secured, sealed or resealable, odor-proof, child-resistant cannabis container that is inaccessible” in a motor vehicle. The penalty is extremely harsh — a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to 364 days in county jail, fines up to $2,500, and up to two years of probation. Previously, cannabis was decriminalized under state law, and carried only a civil fine. Possibly due to the open, odorless container provision, Illinois authorities make well over 5,000 cannabis “possession” arrests each year.
“Even as the state expunged past records for cannabis possession, it is creating tens of thousands of new records that close the door of opportunity by making it hard to get jobs, housing, and professional licenses. The odor loophole is effectively undoing the progress legalization was intended to bring. When three states that haven’t even legalized cannabis have lower arrest rates than Illinois, it’s clear that the state still has work to do.” -Karen O’Keefe, MPP’s Director of State Policies
The full report, including a state-by-state breakdown of arrest data, is available here.
***Courtesy of the Marijuana Policy Project***
