It's difficult to determine exactly how often prosecutors took the time to try those arrested for simple possession of such a small amount of pot or how often they were actually convicted and sentenced to jail. But this is a clear case of the process becoming the punishment. The record of the arrest itself can make it difficult for offenders to get a job, and that can create a devastating set of social consequences, particularly because of one other pertinent fact about Maryland's marijuana laws: they are enforced at massively disproportionate rates against African Americans. Blacks are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites statewide and more than five times as likely to be arrested for that offense in Baltimore. Among the most crucial elements of the new law, which goes into effect Oct. 1, is that civil citations for marijuana possession will not show up in the Maryland Judiciary's online database.