July 10 Infographic: Racial Disparity in Marijuana Arrests

Racial Disparity in Marijuana Arrests (Source: ACLU Report)

Way back in June 2013, the ACLU did an amazing study of the racial disparity in marijuana arrests between black & white communities in America. It’s not just New York City that takes a wildly imbalanced approach to marijuana and drug policing, as the report shows. On Page 43 of the report, it shows that Cook County, Illinois has the largest percentage of Blacks arrested for marijuana possession at nearly 73%.

The report points out (Page 36):

“Between 2001 and 2010 alone, there were 8,244,943 marijuana arrests, more than 7 million of which (7,295,880) were for marijuana possession. There were 100,000 more marijuana possession arrests in 2010 than in 2001 (an 18% increase); 200,000 more than in 1995 (a 51% increase); and over 500,000 more than in 1990 (a 193% increase).”

Also later (Page 48):

“While there were pronounced racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests 10 years ago, the disparities have increased 32.7% between 2001 and 2010. In fact, while the white arrest rate has remained constant at around 192 per 100,000, the Black arrest rate has gone from 537 per 100,000 in 2001 (and 521 per 100,000 in 2002) to 716 per 100,000 in 2010. Hence, it appears that the increase in marijuana possession arrest rates overall is largely a result of an increase in arrests of Blacks. See Figure 10.”

Even if you don’t read the report fully, it is worth a scan over, and a look at the charts.

You can find the entire report here.

https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu-thewaronmarijuana-rel2.pdf

[adrotate banner=”10″]