THE RECORD Launches Live Arrest Clock Counting Cannabis Busts Every 2.6 Minutes
The cannabis advocacy group turned FBI arrest data into a real-time ticker tracking one marijuana arrest every 156 seconds.
Multiple police officers detain a person on a city street, using handcuffs to restrain them.
The clock runs on 2025 FBI Uniform Crime Report data showing 201,000 marijuana arrests—88% for simple possession.
THE RECORD built the ticker using the FBI's latest Uniform Crime Report, which logged 201,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2025, down 4% from 2024 but still averaging one arrest every 156 seconds. Most were for possession. Not distribution, not cultivation. The clock resets every 2.6 minutes, a cadence meant to land harder than an annual figure buried in a federal report.
Founder Weldon Angelos said the project aims to "make the invisible visible." Angelos served 13 years on a federal cannabis sentence before his 2016 commutation, and he's been running THE RECORD since 2019, focusing on clemency campaigns and expungement tracking.
Arrest rates remain highest in states without adult-use legalization, particularly across the South and Midwest.
THE RECORD's site breaks down arrests by state, showing the sharpest disparities in non-legal markets. Texas led all states with 31,400 marijuana arrests in 2025, followed by Florida (22,100) and Georgia (18,700). California—despite its population size—recorded 8,900 arrests. Colorado logged 1,200.
Per-capita gaps tell the real story. In Mississippi, the arrest rate hit 412 per 100,000 residents; in Oregon, it was 29 per 100,000. The clock doesn't differentiate by state, but the site's companion dashboard does, with a heat map that updates quarterly as new UCR data drops.
The clock builds on a decade of advocacy tools translating policy into human-scale metrics.
THE RECORD isn't the first to turn arrest data into a live counter—Last Prisoner Project ran a similar tool in 2021—but this version syncs with live UCR feeds and projects forward based on trailing averages. If arrest trends hold, the 2026 figure will land near 193,000, or roughly one bust every 2.7 minutes.
Angelos said the next phase includes SMS alerts tied to ZIP codes, so users can see when an arrest happens in their county. THE RECORD is also lobbying for a federal expungement bill that would auto-clear non-violent cannabis convictions, a measure that stalled in committee last session.
The clock sits at therecordusa.com/arrest-clock, running 24/7. For context on the broader criminal-justice picture, see the CannIntel topic hub on marijuana arrests and reform. The ticker won't stop until the number it's counting does.
Frequently asked questions
How does THE RECORD's marijuana arrest clock work?
The clock uses FBI Uniform Crime Report data showing 201,000 marijuana arrests in 2025, translating that to one arrest every 2.6 minutes (156 seconds). It runs in real time on therecordusa.com/arrest-clock and updates quarterly as new UCR data is released.
Which states have the highest marijuana arrest rates?
Texas led with 31,400 arrests in 2025, followed by Florida (22,100) and Georgia (18,700). Per-capita, Mississippi had the highest rate at 412 arrests per 100,000 residents, compared to Oregon's 29 per 100,000.
What percentage of marijuana arrests are for possession vs. distribution?
According to the 2025 FBI data, 88% of marijuana arrests were for simple possession, not distribution or cultivation. This mirrors historical trends showing enforcement disproportionately targets low-level users.
Who is behind THE RECORD and the arrest clock?
THE RECORD is a cannabis criminal-justice advocacy group founded by Weldon Angelos, who served 13 years on a federal cannabis sentence before his 2016 commutation. The group focuses on clemency, expungement tracking, and policy reform.
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