California marijuana enforcement 4 times more severe for black people, study finds

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Marijuana laws may have eased up throughout the years, but a new study shows that minorities are being punished more than ever for possessing cannabis.

In racial data obtained from the cities of Los Angeles and Fresno, experts from the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU of California found that black citizens get cited for pot possession at about four times the rate of whites, the Huffington Postreports.

In fact, the racial disparity seems to be worse since cannabis law reform came to pass in California.

“The disparity is worse than the rates at which blacks were arrested for simple possession of marijuana prior to 2011, when possession was a misdemeanor offense,” said Amanda Reiman, California Policy Manager of the Drug Policy Alliance. “In 2010, black were 2.2 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession.”

Latinos are also arrested 1.7 times more than white people in Fresno and 1.4 times more in Los Angeles, despite similar usage levels throughout the two cities’ black, white, and Latino populations. The DPA contends that the rate could actually be much higher, however.

Continue to Full Story at SFGate

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