A new report from the RAND Corporation commissioned by the White House Office of Drug Control Policy has some disturbing longitudinal findings since 2000. The office asked RAND to look at total expenditures and consumption of four illicit drugs: cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
 
One of the most remarkable findings was that from 2000 to 2010 the number of chronic marijuana users (those who smoke pot four or more days each week) has jumped by 84.3 percent with 13 million chronic users in America today.  
 
Expenditures for marijuana (which many unscrupulous politicians eye as a means for more tax revenue for their own agenda), have doubled in those ten years with the amount consumed increasing by 89.6 percent to 5,734 metric tons in 2010 equating to nearly $41 billion in 2010 compared to half that amount spent in 2000 ($21.6 billion).
 
This study comes on the heels of one from Columbia University finding that the number of traffic fatalities involving pot having tripled since 1999.  Currently 40 percent of all traffic fatalities are due to alcohol, but marijuana and other drugs now account for 28 percent of auto fatalities, up from 19 percent in 1999.  Marijuana is the main drug involved in drug related auto fatalities accounting for 12 percent up from just 4 percent in 1999.  If a driver is under the influence of both alcohol and pot they are 24 times more likely than a sober driver to cause a fatal crash.