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Racial Disparity In Marijuana Arrests
African Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of whites, yet both ethnicities consume marijuana at roughly the same rates.
- Specifically, the The American Civil Liberties Union report The War on Marijuana In Black and White (2013) concluded: "[O]n average, a Black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates. Such racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests exist in all regions of the country, in counties large and small, urban and rural, wealthy and poor, and with large and small Black populations. Indeed, in over 96% of counties with more than 30,000 people in which at least 2% of the residents are Black, Blacks are arrested at higher rates than whites for marijuana possession."
- A 2017 analysis of low-level marijuana arrest data for the city of Buffalo for the years 2012 to 2016 reported that 86 percent of those arrested were people of color, but that African Americans and Hispanics constituted less than 50 percent of the city’s population. In Erie county, African Americans comprised 71 percent of low level marijuana arrests, but only 13.5 percent of the population.
- A 2017 analysis of Pennsylvania arrest data found that Black adults were 8.2 times more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested for possessing marijuana – up from 6.5 percent in 2010.
- A 2017 analysis of New York City arrest data found that Blacks and Latinos comprised 86 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession violations during the years 2014 to 2016.
- A 2017 analysis of New Jersey arrest data found that African Americans are three times more likely than whites to be arrested for violating marijuana possession laws
- A 2017 analysis of Virginia arrest data determined that African Americans are three times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as compared to whites and that this disparity is increasing A separate analysis reported that blacks account for nearly half of all marijuana possession arrests in Virginia, but comprise only 20 percent of the state population
- Washington Post, The black/white marijuana arrest gap, in nine charts
- An analysis of Maryland arrest data determined that African Americans accounted for 58 percent of all marijuana possession arrested despite comprising only 30 percent of the state's population.
- A 2016 analysis of California arrest figures concluded that police arrested blacks for marijuana offenses at three and half times the rate of whites. A prior statewide assessment reported that police in 25 of California's major cities arrested blacks for marijuana possession violations at rates four to twelve times that of caucasians.
- A 2016 review of New York City marijuana arrest data by the Police Reform Organizing Project reported that approximately 85 percent of those arrested for lowest level marijuana possession violations were black or Latino.
- Those percentages have been consistent for several years.
- Prior to the enactment of legalization, Colorado police arrested blacks for marijuana possession at 3.1 times the rate of whites.
- Prior to the enactment of legalization, Washington police arrested blacks for marijuana possession at 2.9 times the rate of whites.
- Prior to the enactment of decriminalization, an analysis of marijuana possession arrest data in Chicago by reported that the ratio of black to white arrests for cannabis possession violations is 15 to 1.
- Prior to the enactment of a Washington, DC voter-initiated law depenalizing minor marijuana possession crimes, African Americans were eight times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana-related crimes.
Continuing Legal Education
8/17/2020
