Whether it's sentencing disparities for powder vs. crack cocaine or arrests for marijuana possession disproportionate to use, African-Americans are continually the victims of racially tinged enforcement of U.S. drug laws.
California will have an opportunity to do something about one aspect of this disparity in the Fall, it's called Proposition 19.
From the Drug Policy Alliance...
The Drug Policy Alliance has released a report that documents widespread race-based disparities in the enforcement of low-level marijuana possession laws in California. The report finds that African Americans are arrested for marijuana possession at substantially higher rates than whites, typically at double, triple or even quadruple the rate of whites.
According to the report, “Targeting Blacks for Marijuana,” these disparities in marijuana possession arrest rates between whites and blacks cannot be explained by their patterns of marijuana use. U.S. government studies consistently find that young blacks consume marijuana at lower rates than young whites.
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