Black People Are More Likely to Be Arrested for Weed Possession Than White People


 The ACLU released an interactive map of the United States that illustrates statistics of marijuana arrests by state. If your first thought was that there must be a racial bias, you win this week's prize (which is not free weed. Sorry, dude). According to the report, a cannabis-related arrest occurs in the US ever 0.01 hours. The individual getting arrested is 3.73 times more likely to be Black than White. Just in New York, it's almost five times more likely. In Iowa, that number jumps all the way up to eight times more likely. In this country, mere possession of weed is the offense 88 percent of the time. We spend $3.6 billion to enforce a law that disproportionately affects Black people.

Of course, marijuana laws affect plenty of other minorities besides Blacks. A 2010 article in The Nation reported that Blacks and Hispanics accounted for 87 percent of all marijuana-related arrests. Really, we're all just dancing around the fact that possession laws are absurd for marijuana, and everyone of all colours, creeds and genders just needs to chill the fuck out. RACIST

Blacks are 3.7 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana. It's happening in counties large and small, urban and rural. It's not fair. It's not making us any safer. It's wasting valuable resources. And it's taking a toll on thousands of lives every year.



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