Blacks in NJ Have Greater Chance of Being Busted for Pot, Report Says

Blacks in New Jersey and across the country are far more likely to be arrested on marijuana-related charges than whites even though both groups are almost equally likely to use the drug, according to a report released this week by the American Civil LIberties Union.

“[T]he War on Marijuana, like the larger War on Drugs of which it is a part, is a failure. It has needlessly ensnared hundreds of thousands of people in the criminal justice system, had a staggeringly disproportionate impact on African-Americans, and comes at a tremendous human and financial cost. The price paid by those arrested and convicted of marijuana possession can be significant and linger for years, if not a lifetime,” the authors wrote in “The War on Marijuana in Black and White."  

A spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office declined to comment Wednesday.

Examining data for the years 2001-2010, the report states that nationwide, an African-American is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested than a white person, although the disparity varies widely among each of the 50 states.

In New Jersey, for example, blacks are just 2.84 times likely to be arrested as whites, but in Iowa, the comparable figure is more than 8. In New Jersey, blacks make up 14.6 percent of the population but 35.1 percent of all marijuana arrests. In Florida, where blacks are 16.4 percent of the population, 46.1 percent of those arrested for marijuana offenses were black.

Arrests for marijuana as a percentage of all drug arrests rose throughout the first decade of the century, accounting for slightly more than half by 2010. Eight million pot arrests were recorded between 2001 and 2010, with one arrest made every 37 seconds by 2010. In New Jersey that year, there were 21,659 pot arrests, the eighth-highest total in the nation. 

The report also states the black-white gap increased right alongside the overall number of arrests. Between 2001 and 2010, the arrest rate for whites remained nearly constant at 192 per 100,000 people, but rose for blacks, from 537 per 100,000 in 2001 to 716 per 100,000 by 2010.

The report attributes both the rise in arrests overall and the growing racial disparity to a number of factors, including the increasing popularity of stop-and-frisk policies in predominantly minority neighborhoods as well as pressure on police to boost their arrest numbers, even for minor offenses, in designated high-crime areas.

The authors recommend either legalizing marijuana use outright for those 21 and older or drastically reducing the penalties for marijuana offenses. The authors also call on law enforcement to end racial profiling.