and not end up with some sort of record for arrest - these young people are routed into drug rehab programs. The majority of people in drug rehab for cannabis in the U.S. are there because the court offered them the option.
According to SAMHSA, over 37 percent of the estimated 288,000 thousand people who entered drug treatment for marijuana in 2007 hadn't used weed in the 30 days prior to their admission. Another 16 percent of those admitted said they'd only used cannabis three times or less in the month prior to their admission. Do these individuals sound like they meet the clinical standard of dependence...defined as "the state of being psychologically and physiologically dependent on a drug" Hardly. In truth, the only reason these people are in "treatment" at all is because they were arrested with a small quantity of pot and were ordered to treatment in lieu of jail.
..According to the Aug. 13, 2009 issue of The TEDS Report, published by SAMHSA, nearly six out of 10 individuals enrolled in drug treatment for marijuana are referred there by the criminal justice system
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/144243?page=entire
I don't know if you are aware of this, but NYC and Chicago, for instance, have had "stop and frisk" policies that allow them to stop someone FOR NO REASON other than they might look like they might be someone who is somehow going to commit a crime.
The officers have people empty their pockets. If someone has a reefer in his pocket, the police then arrest them - even tho this is a violation of constitutional rights AND this policy is not allowed, supposedly.
This policy, however, targets minorities - by that I mean people of color, not underage, tho the two aren't exclusive.
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