Of all the misunderstandings about marijuana’s impact on the country, perhaps none is greater than the belief that America’s courts, prisons and jails are clogged with people whose only offense was marijuana use. This is the perception, but statistics show few inmates are behind bars strictly for marijuana-related offenses, and legalization of the drug will do little to affect America’s growing incarceration numbers.

“It’s this myth that won’t go away and gets repeated by people who should know better. Unfortunately, no one reads public records,” said Ernie Martinez, Denver-based at-large director for the National Narcotics Officers Association Coalition. “But the truth is there — and it looks a lot different than the story pushed by marijuana-legalization advocates and amplified in news media.”