Community Corner

Study Finds Blacks More Likely to Be Arrested for Marijuana Possession

Despite representing less than 3 percent of the population, blacks accounted for more than 11 percent of all misdemeanor pot arrests in Santa Clara County.

Even as research shows that blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates, a nationwide study of law enforcement records has found that blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites. 

Between 2001 and 2010, there were 8 million marijuana arrests in the United States, or one pot arrest every 37 seconds at an annual cost of $3.6 billion, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union released Tuesday. 

In Santa Clara County, blacks accounted for about 11 percent of all misdemeanor marijuana arrests reported to the California Department of Justice in 2010. According to the U.S. Census, blacks made up just 2.6 percent of Santa Clara County's population that year. 

By comparison, whites made up 46.8 percent of the county's population in 2010 while accounting for more than 30 percent of the misdemeanor marijuana arrests. 

Misdemeanor marijuana arrests in Santa Clara County have been climbing since 2007, when they topped 2,500. They dropped substantially in 2011, the last year data was made available. The ACLU study found that half of all drug arrests nationwide were for marijuana possession. In Santa Clara County, low-level pot busts in the county made up about 40 percent of all misdemeanor drug arrests between 2002 and 2011.  

In Milpitas, misdemeanor marijuana arrests peaked at 181 in 2008. There were 146 in 2010 and 12 in 2011, according to the California Department of Justice.


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