DPA Reports Widespread Racial Disparities in Ca. Marijuana Inforcement.

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The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is the nations leading orginization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.

In a recent report focused on marijuana posession arrest, the statistics are alarming and point to widespread race-based disparities in posession arrest through out 25 of Californias largest counties.

The report found that marijuana posession arrest rates for African Americans, particularly young men between 18 - 25, are 332% higher then arrest rate for whites. In other words, African Americans in Los Angeles County constitute less than 10 % of the population, but constitute over 30% od marijuana posession arrest.


In Los Angeles County where I live, the general population stands at nearly 10 million, which is about 25% of the states total population. However, while African Americans represent less than about 9% of the population, they constitute over 30% of the marijuana posession arrest L.A. County alone.

 
I have always been critical of the cost to tax payers for waging this so-called "war on drugs" and particularly how marijuana became the primary focus of law enforcement with columbian cocaine flooding across the border from Mexico. Is this the best approach? - With columbian cocaine being bought and sold by the kilo, cops are chasing down minority youth with dime bags of weed stuffed in their socks.


I would encourage folks to click this link to the DPA's  REPORT to see the shear numbers of these low level arrest. Then get out your calculators and try to figure the cost to taxpayers for the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of this many people on the average of 30 to 90 days. It has nothing to do with marijuana and everything to do with racial inequality. PERIOD!

http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/Targeting_Blacks_for_Marijuana_06_29_10.pdf