Report: Blacks in Washington Co. 1.4 Times More Likely to Be Arrested for Marijuana Than Whites

Written by James Warden

A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union finds that blacks are much more likely than whites to get arrested for marijuana in the United States, even though usage rates are nearly the same.

Minnesota has the third-worst gap between black and white arrests.

Statewide, the arrest rate for blacks was 7.8 times the rate for whites. While whites had about 107 arrests per 100,000 people, blacks had 835 arrests per 100,000 people.

Use the map above to compare disparity among Minnesota Counties, according to ACLU data provided to Patch. 2010 data was not available for Clearwater County, Houston County, Lac qui Parle County, Marshall County, Red Lake County, Rock County, Sibley County, Traverse County and Yellow Medicine County.

The colors mean the following:

• Green: Blacks were between 0 and 3 times as likely to be arrested as whites
• Yellow: Blacks were between 3 and 10 times as likely to be arrested as whites
• Red: Blacks were 10 or more times as likely to be arrested as whites

However, in Washington County, a black person is just 1.4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites. Nationwide, blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana despite roughly equal usage rates.

The report, based on data from the FBI and Census Bureau, says there is a money-and-resource-sucking "war on marijuana" in the United States. Despite being a priority for police departments, the report states, the effort against marijuana has not only been unsuccessful but has "needlessly" funneled thousands of people into the criminal justice system. 

The report estimates that Minnesota spent $94.8 million enforcing marijuana possession laws in 2010.

According to the ACLU’s analysis, marijuana arrests now make up more than half of all drug arrests in the United States. In Minnesota, marijuana possession arrests made up 42.8 percent of drug arrests in 2010.

Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests nationwide between 2001 and 2010, 88 percent were for simply having marijuana.