Texas Cannabis LedgerThe short answer
Texas does not have one number that can be dropped into every discussion of marijuana enforcement without qualification. The Ledger's figure is a sum of marijuana-coded adult and juvenile records in a Texas Department of Public Safety Computerized Criminal History county/offense workbook. The smaller figure is published by the Marijuana Policy Project from data it describes as compiled by the FBI.
The gap is real in the published figures. Its cause is not established here. Reporting coverage, submission timing, definitions, and counting units can differ across systems, but this comparison does not assign a share of the gap to any one factor.
What the Texas DPS figure measures
| What | Marijuana-coded adult and juvenile arrest records retained under the Ledger's published offense rule |
|---|---|
| Where | Texas DPS Computerized Criminal History county/offense workbook |
| When | 2025 arrest dates; source workbook published Jan. 13, 2026 |
| Organization | County and offense |
| Ledger result | 41,701 total records; 41,049 classified as possession |
DPS says its criminal-history statistical reports contain annual arrest counts broken down by county and offense, with arrest years assigned using the date of arrest reported by criminal-justice agencies. DPS also describes the annual CCH reports as January snapshots. Read the DPS description and source catalog.
The Ledger does not call 41,701 a count of unique Texans. The aggregate workbook does not let us establish that each row represents a different person or a different arrest event.
What the FBI-based figure measures
| What | Cannabis arrests published by MPP from data it describes as compiled by the FBI |
|---|---|
| Where | FBI Uniform Crime Reporting submissions, analyzed and published by MPP |
| When | 2025 |
| Published result | 29,496 total cannabis arrests; 28,753 possession arrests |
MPP publishes the Texas figure and its FBI provenance. FBI guidance says UCR participation is voluntary and not all agencies submit data monthly. Read the FBI's current reporting note. NORML's Texas arrest table adds a stronger caution: its NIBRS-derived data is often incomplete because participating agencies do not all report on time. Read NORML's limitation note.
Why the Ledger uses Texas DPS
The Ledger was built for county-level Texas analysis. The DPS workbook provides a Texas-specific county/offense structure that supports the map, county histories, and reproducible county aggregation used throughout this site.
That is a reason to use DPS for this instrument. It is not proof that the DPS total is the one “true” statewide arrest count. Publishing the FBI comparison lets readers see that another widely cited reporting system produces a materially different number.
What remains unknown
This analysis has not reconciled record identifiers or agency submissions across the two systems. It therefore cannot say which agencies, offense definitions, submission rules, duplicate records, corrections, or other factors account for the gap.
That is the open question: why do two legitimate reporting paths produce a difference of roughly 12,200 for the same state and year? Researchers and journalists should investigate the source systems directly rather than treating either aggregate as a substitute for the other.
The Ledger rule
Every headline number should travel with its unit, source, and period. When authoritative sources disagree, the Ledger shows the disagreement and preserves the distinction.