November 2, 2000
New Study Reveals Blacks
Arrested For Marijuana
At More Than Twice The Rate For
Whites
Blacks are arrested for marijuana possession at a
two and a half times
greater rate than whites, according to a new study
published by the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Based on 1995 Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report
(UCR) data from 700 metropolitan counties, Jon Gettman, Ph.D., a public
policy analyst and former NORML director, calculated the ratio of black
arrest rates to white arrest rates from 1,076,816 out of a total
1,476,199 drug arrests reported by the UCR. This is the most recent data
set to include UCR data, U.S. Census data and the National Household
Survey on Drug Abuse. The full report is available at
www.norml.org.
Some
important findings of this report:
o The black arrest rate for all drug
offenses is four times the arrest
rate for whites.
o When controlling for
drug use levels, the black arrest rates for drug
offenses increases with the
severity of the offense.
o When controlling for drug use levels, the black
arrest rate for all
drug possession offenses is 2.89 times higher than the
white arrest rate.
o Black arrest rate for marijuana is more than twice the
white arrest
rate in over 4/5 of metropolitan counties.
o Black arrest
rates are generally lower in jurisdictions with large
black populations, but
regardless of the racial composition level the
black arrest rate for any
drug offense it is typically twice or greater
than the white arrest rate for
the same offense in the same jurisdiction.
o The disparity between black and
white arrest rates for drug offenses
increases with the severity of the
offense.
o In metro area counties blacks are arrested for marijuana sales at
a
rate 3.6 times more than whites. In counties where the black population
is at least 1/3 of the entire of the population, blacks are 4.1 times
more likely than whites to get arrested for marijuana sales.
Marijuana Possession Arrests
Among the metro counties with at least a
population of 500,000 with
available data the greatest disparities between
black and white arrest
rates are found within 90 miles from each other in
central and western
New York state in
Onondaga County, NY
(Syracuse) at 10.61 blacks for
every one white arrest and Monroe
County, NY (Rochester) at 5.63.
Rounding out the top 10 greatest disparities
in black and white marijuana
possession arrest rates were Cuyahoga County,
OH (Cleveland) at 5.56,
Hennepin County, MN (Minneapolis) at 5.31, Fulton
County, GA (Atlanta) at
5.12, Hartford County, CT (Hartford) at 4.56,
Allegheny County, PA
(Pittsburgh) at 4.43, Washington, DC at 4.05, Hamilton
County, OH
(Cincinnati) at 3.79 and Jackson County, MO (Kansas City) at
3.74.
Fifty-six counties had over 100 marijuana arrests, a black population
of
over 1,000 and the marijuana possession arrest rate for blacks of at
least five times that for whites. Lake County, OH, which includes part of
Cleveland as well as Lorain and Elyria had a ratio of 19.77 black arrests
to white. Rounding out the top 10 were, St. Joseph County, IN (South
Bend) at 11.27, Minnehaha County, SD (Sioux Falls) at 10.71, Onondaga
County (Syracuse) at 10.61, Albany County, NY (Albany, Schenectady and
Troy) at 10.56, St. Louis County, MN (Duluth and Superior) at 10.34, Bay
County, MN (Saginaw, Bay City and Midland) at 8.54, Douglas County, NE
(Omaha) at 8.39, Cecil County, MD (Wilmington and Newark) at 8.16 and
Schenectady County, NY (Albany, Schenectady and Troy) at 8.0.
Marijuana Sales Arrests
Among counties with a minimum of 100
marijuana arrests and a black
population of at least 1,000 blacks are
between 6.5 and 35 times more
likely to get arrested for marijuana
distribution than whites. Broome
County, NY (Binghamton), had the highest
ratio of black to white arrests
at 34.70. In all, 12 counties had ratios
over nine. They were: Broward
County, FL (Ft. Lauderdale) at 20.35, Erie
County, PA (Erie) at 14.08,
Plymouth County, MA (Boston) at 12.33, Cobb
County, GA (Atlanta) at
12.24, Mercer County, NJ (Trenton) at 12.18,
Washington, DC at 12.11,
Orange County, FL (Orlando) at 9.83, New York
County, NY (New York) at
9.69, Lancaster County, PA (Lancaster) at 9.51,
Monroe County, NY
(Rochester) at 9.20 and Kent County, MI (Grand Rapids,
Muskegon and
Holland) at 9.18.
State Rankings
The states with
highest black to white arrest rate for marijuana
possession are:
State
Arrests Black
population Rate
1.)
Alaska
33
683
4,834
2.) Nebraska
1,369
61,082
2,167
3.) S. Dakota
39
2,530
1,541
4.) Wyoming
28
2,911
962.03
5.)
Iowa
343
40,987
836.84
The states with lowest black to white arrest rate for marijuana
possession are:
State
Arrests Black
population Rate
1.)
Vermont
0
460
0.00
2.) Hawaii
17
33,098
51.36
3.) Maine
2
2,333
85.74
4.) New Mexico
25
17,912
139.57
5.) Pennsylvania
1,560
1,047,536
148.92
"Racial disparities in drug arrests represent a serious threat to
the
integrity of the criminal justice system that should concern all
Americans," said the report's author Jon Gettman, Ph.D. "The differences
in arrest rates between blacks and whites are significant, stark and
unambiguous. In the United States, black drug users face a far greater
chance of encountering the criminal justice system than white drug users.
Sadly, in this area, justice is not blind."
For more information, please
contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation
Executive Director, at (202)
483-8751 or visit
www.norml.org to read the
executive summary, full report and state tables.