Pubdate: Wed, 05 Jun 2013
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2013 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press
Page: A5

RACIAL DISPARITY FOUND IN MARIJUANA ARRESTS

WASHINGTON - Black people are arrested for possessing marijuana at a
higher rate than white people, even though marijuana use by both races
is about the same, the American Civil Liberties Union reports in a new
study.

The ACLU's analysis of federal crime data, released Tuesday, found
marijuana arrest rates for black people were 3.73 times greater than
those for white people nationally in 2010. In some counties, the
arrest rate was 10 to 30 times greater for blacks. In two Alabama
counties, 100 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession were
black, the ACLU said.

About 14 percent of black people and 12 percent of white people
reported in 2010 that they had used marijuana during the previous
year, according to data that the ACLU obtained from the National Drug
Health Survey, a Health and Human Services publication. Among younger
people ages 18 to 25, use was greater among whites.

Ezekiel Edwards, lead author of the ACLU study, attributed the
disparate arrest rates to racial profiling by police seeking to pad
their arrest numbers with "low-level" arrests in "certain communities
that they have kind of labeled as problematic."

Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of
Police, countered that police simply operate from the standpoint that
"the use of marijuana is a crime."

"We will try to educate our membership, to the extent the statistics
are valid, to be aware people other than blacks are smoking marijuana
and to arrest them too," said Pasco, who had not yet seen the ACLU
report.

Arthur Burnett Sr., a retired judge of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia, said his 40 years on the bench showed him that
police concentrate their numbers in black communities. It's easier to
catch people with marijuana in communities where there are "openair"
drug markets, rather than looking in homes, basements, or country
clubs, said Burnett. He is the CEO of the National African American
Drug Policy Coalition based in Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Matt