Resource type:
Report/Article
Published:
1 Octubre 2010
Publication:
Drug Policy Alliance and the William C. Velasquez Institute
Download report:
A report that documents widespread race-based disparities in the enforcement of low-level marijuana possession laws in California.
In the last 20 years, California made 850,000 arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and half a million arrests in the last 10 years. The people arrested were disproportionately African Americans and Latinos, overwhelmingly young people, especially young men. This is in spite of the fact that US government surveys consistently find young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young Latinos. From 2006 through to 2008, major cities in California arrested and prosecuted Latinos for marijuana possession at double to nearly triple the rate of whites.