By the Numbers

COLORADO

Percentage of Colorado medical marijuana patients listing “severe pain” as their reason for seeking cannabis medicine: 94 (Source: Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry).

Estimated number of “legitimate” medical cannabis businesses in the state of Colorado: 1,000-plus (Source: Medical Marijuana Industry Group).

Estimated number of workers employed at an average Colorado medical cannabis business: 5 (Source: The Huffington Post).

Percentage increase in new patients at a cannabis dispensary in Berthoud, following dispensary bans in nearby Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland: 33 (Source: The Denver Post).

Average age of a registered medical cannabis patient in Colorado: 42 (Source: Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry).

MICHIGAN

Number of signatures the Committee for a Safer Michigan needed to collect to put a legalization measure on the November ballot: 322,609 (Source: The Huffington Post).

Number of signatures the Committee for a Safer Michigan collected for the legalization measure by the July deadline: 50,000 (Source: The Huffington Post).

Number of signatures collected by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit to successfully qualify a pot legalization measure for the November ballot: 6,000 (Source: NORML).

Number of people arrested in 2009 in Detroit for alleged possession and/or use of small amounts of cannabis: 1,521 (Source: 36th District Court records).

Cost (in dollars) to taxpayers of prosecuting people arrested in 2009 in Detroit for alleged simple possession and/or use of cannabis: 2.6 million-plus (Source: Coalition for a Safer Detroit).

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Number of cannabis patients served by Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, which the federal government is trying to seize: 100,000 (Source: Bradenton Herald).

Federal, state and local taxes (in dollars) Harborside Health Center pays every year: 3 million (Source: Bradenton Herald).

Annual tax revenue (in dollars) generated by Harborside Health Center for the city of Oakland alone: 1 million (Source: Oakland Mayor’s Office).

Current budget deficit (in dollars) for the city of Oakland: 31 million (Source: San Francisco Chronicle).

Number of cannabis dispensaries operating in San Francisco in 2005: 40 (Source: San Francisco Chronicle).

Number of cannabis dispensaries remaining in San Francisco as a result of the federal assault on medical cannabis: 18 (Source: SF Weekly).

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Number of Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensaries to register with the city prior to its 2007 dispensary moratorium: 187 (Source: Los Angeles Times).

Number of LA dispensaries to register with the city under last year’s Measure M, a voter-approved initiative taxing cannabis outlets: 762 (Source: ProCon.org).

Estimated number of unregistered LA medical cannabis dispensaries: 200 (Source: Reuters).

Measure M tax revenue (in dollars) generated by dispensaries in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012: 2 million (Source: Americans for Safe Access).

Number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed in LA following a July vote by the City Council: 0 (Source: Los Angeles Municipal Code).

Number of LA council members to vote in July against banning all dispensaries in the city: 0 (Source: Los Angeles Times).

Number of lawsuits filed against LA for the City Council’s handling of medical marijuana regulation: 70-plus (Source: Los Angeles Times).

WASHINGTON

Percentage of Washington registered voters surveyed who say the marijuana legalization measure I-502 should be enacted into law: 55 (Source: July SurveyUSA poll).

Percentage of Washington registered voters surveyed who say I-502 should not be enacted into law: 32 (Source: July SurveyUSA poll).

High-end first-year revenue projection (in dollars) for Washington if voters enact the marijuana legalization measure I-502: 606 million (Source: Washington Office of Financial Management [OFM]).

Number of people convicted in Washington state courts in fiscal year 2010-11 for possession of less than 40 grams of cannabis: 3,883 (Source: Washington OFM).

Number of people convicted in Washington state courts in FY 2010-11 on felony marijuana charges: 678 (Source: Washington OFM).

Number of people arrested last year in Chicago for alleged possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis: 18,298 (Source: Chicago Police Department statistics).

Percentage of African-Americans among all people arrested last year in Chicago for alleged simple marijuana possession: 80 (Source: Chicago Police Department statistics).

AND BEYOND

Average number of Chicago police officers involved in the arrest of every person on a charge of simple possession: 4 (Source: Chicago City Council).

Estimated number of “police hours” expected to be freed up every year since Chicago decriminalized simple possession in July: 20,000 (Source: Chicago Superintendent of Police).

Estimated amount of money (in dollars) Americans spend worldwide every year on marijuana: 65 billion (Source: UN International Narcotics Control Board).

Estimated amount of money (in dollars) the U.S. spends every year confiscating marijuana and arresting users and sellers: 8 billion (Source: UN International Narcotics Control Board).

Percentage of Americans who used cannabis regularly in 2010: 6.9 (Source: USA Today).

Estimated percentage of Americans who used cannabis regularly in 2007: 5.8 (Source: USA Today).

Estimated percentage of New Zealand residents who used cannabis regularly in 2010: 14.6 (Source: UN 2012 Drug Report).

Estimated percentage of people worldwide who used cannabis regularly in 2010: 4.5 (Source: UN 2012 Drug Report).