News » Marijuana Arrest Rate Exponentially Higher For People Of Color In California





A new study released jointly by the Drug Policy Alliance and the NAACP has shown that between 2006 and 2008 people of color were between 4 and 12 times as likely to be arrested for a marijuana related offense than whites. This disparity in the arrest rate was found in all cities and all counties in California, and was averaged over three years to remove any one year statistical anomalies.

The report concludes that the reason that African Americans, Latinos and other people of color are more likely to be arrested is due to the fact that police patrols are often concentrated in “high risk” areas, which tend to be low income minority neighborhoods. Because the law enforcements officials are given a target or quota to meet, they often stop and search vehicles that think will likely contain contraband – racially profiling neighborhoods as well as the people who live there – despite the fact that across ethnicities are likely to possess a small amount of marijuana.

Felony and misdemeanor arrest data was used for the study, however infractions are not reported. Due to the current laws in place in California this makes it impossible to determine how these communities were affected by citations and fines compared to predominately white neighborhoods.

[source Arresting Blacks for Marijuana in California: Possession Arrests, 2006-08]

[via Oakland Local]

Tags: African American, DPA, Drug Policy Alliance, Latino, marijuana, minority, NAACP, police, pot, race