Racially Biased Arrests for Pot

New York Times ^ | June 15, 2013 | By Editorial Board

[Brad from Tennessee]

Researchers have long known that African-Americans are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, even though studies have repeatedly shown that the two groups use the drug at similar rates.

New federal data, included in a study by the American Civil Liberties Union, now shows that the problem of racially biased arrests is far more extensive that was previously known — and is getting worse. The costly, ill-advised “war on marijuana” might fairly be described as a tool of racial oppression.

The study, based on law enforcement data from 50 states and the District of Columbia, is the most detailed of its kind so far. Marijuana arrests have risen sharply over the last two decades and now make up about half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the more than eight million marijuana arrests made between 2001 and 2010, nearly 90 percent were for possession. There were nearly 900,000 marijuana arrests in 2010 — 300,000 more than for all violent crimes combined.

Nationally, African-Americans are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites. The disparity is even more pronounced in some states, including Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, where African-Americans are about eight times as likely to be arrested. And in some counties around the country, blacks are 10, 15 or even 30 times as likely to be arrested. . .

[ansel12]

I lievez that you wromng

[FreedomPoster]

>>But if you curse the officers or get physical, then it’s straight to jail.

And of course the whole ghetto urban black tough guy persona has to be a complete ***hole to a white cop just to keep the persona consistent. But according to this NY Times blog, it’s just racism that causes blacks to get convicted for MJ crimes at vastly higher rates than whites. They refuse to consider other factors.

For me, the crime that really puts the lie to the “blacks are the victims of racism from the law enforcement and justice system” nonsense is murder. Murder leaves behind physical proof of the event by definition. The brutal reality is we KNOW blacks commit murder at a rate that is a multiple of white murder rates. No sane person can argue whites just aren’t being brought to justice, as there simply isn’t a large pile of bodies from unsolved murders that would allow the murder rate numbers to be similar if only whites were being brought to justice.

Given this, why shouldn’t I expect blacks to be committing crimes at greater rates overall in other areas, despite claims from slanted blogs like the NY Times that “studies have repeatedly shown that the two groups use the drug at similar rates.”

[jimsin]

‘A Canadian is 10 trillion times more likely to get his teeth knocked out by a hockey puck than an Egyptian mummy.’

AW HARRY..cut it out with the whitey honky logic wooddja ?...with tactics like that you’ll never become a lib in all yer life....on the other hand i will say what you said is prescient indeed..good on ya, lad.

[USNBandit]

"He got weed, he got weed!"

[FreedomPoster]

LOL! Perfect!

For those who don’t know the origin of that pic:

Chris Rock How not to get your *** kicked by the police
http://youtu.be/rHhKIyAk69g

[SampleMan]

The costly, ill-advised “war on marijuana poverty” might fairly be described as a tool of racial oppression.

There, fixed it.

[count-your-change]

Here's a remarkable and novel idea: Leave the drugs alone and the likelihood of arrest will drop dramatically.

[ronnie raygun]

Making excuses for irresponsibility and rewarding this irresponsibility every day for 50 years

[wrencher]

The former “land of the free” is now a risk free zone, of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers. Too many do-gooders.

[RipSawyer]

Liberals are known for axe grinding, not logic. Their attempts at logical thinking are just rationalizing, decide what conclusion you wish to draw from the facts and then discard anything that challenges that conclusion in any way, then insist that anyone who points out your errors is too dumb to understand your brilliant thinking. Anyone who says that you should begin again from the starting point and examine your basic premises is probably a RAAAACCCIIIISSSTTT!

[RipSawyer]

“A Canadian is 10 trillion times more likely to get his teeth knocked out by a hockey puck than an Egyptian mummy.”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Yep, can’t say that I have ever heard of a Canadian or anyone else getting his teeth knocked out by an Egyptian mummy.

[Altura Ct.]

Blah, blah, blah - poor, poor blacks are just not responsible for anything they do.

[sphinx]

The officer carefully explained that there was no conscious effort to arrest more blacks (than Hispanics, whites or Asians), but that because their business methods were so unsophisticated, it was much easier to apprehend blacks engaged in the same type of drug trade. He said the kind of transactions that white and Hispanic organized crime would conduct discretely, black drug merchants would do out in the open, making them exceptionally easy to arrest.

I never saw the skit, but I've read that Cheech and Chong had a pretty funny routine on the theme, "take it indoors, man." The moral was very much along the lines of the Chris Rock "how not to get your *** kicked by the police" piece.

I live in the city in a now heavily gentrified area, but with plenty of local hot spots still around. What goes on behind closed doors is one thing, and may or may not create a public nuisance or hazard. But what happens on the street, on the sidewalks, and in the playgrounds, is everyone's business. I am all in favor of the police aggressively harassing the open air drug dealers and the gang members loitering on the corner. I don't care what color they are. If they are too stupid to at least go indoors, lock 'em up.

Yes, I'm aware that plenty of white and Hispanic folks use drugs. But somehow, this part of the trade somehow manages to function without open air drug markets and driveby shootings with frequent casualties among innocent bystanders. Big difference.

[BillyBonebrake]

Hah hah ... that’s great. My morning just got funnier.

[OSHA]

Quit arresting blacks for anything until the populace that they terrorize scream for mercy.

[SeminoleCounty]

How about Blacks stop using pot...and stop Blaming Whitey for everything...then you see the arrests go down.

[wildbill]

If you are selling drugs openly on a street corner in an area known for drug dealing, your probability of being arrested for drugs is far higher than a white who doesn’t traffic openly on the street.

Many trafficking charges are pled down to possession so it appears that the person was simply a user, not a dealer.

White marijuana users and dealers are much more secretive about their participation in illegal drug use of all kinds.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Many trafficking charges are pled down to possession so it appears that the person was simply a user, not a dealer.]

Organized black drug gangs in major cities station street dealers in a specific spot. These guys sell small quantities—single joints and small packets (sometimes match boxes) of loose marijuana. The dealer keeps a limited quantity of product on his person. When he has sold that quantity to various customers a runner delivers more product to him and collects his cash. There are many clever variations on this technique but it limits the dealer's criminal liability.

[wildbill]

And these street corners are considered valuable proprietary ‘turf’ and are defended against rivals by any means up to murder. A lot of the gang violence is over these turf wars.

Location, location, location.

[JimRed]

Might that be because they are four times more likely to be in possession of pot? Or that their behavior when in possession draws more police attention? Or do the cops let most of the whites in possession go free?