For decades, the federal government allowed a peculiar quirk in its sentencing guidelines which exposed distributors of crack cocaine to harsher sentences than those convicted of selling an equal amount of powder cocaine.  Recently, the federal government has abandoned this sentencing scheme because it recognized that minorities have a greater propensity to use crack cocaine.  Newly disclosed information suggests that race may be motivating an imbalance in marijuana/pot arrests as well 

In 2008, there were almost 850,000 people arrested for marijuana/pot.  80% of those people were charged with possession only.  In California, Blacks are three times as likely to be arrested for marijuana/pot related offenses than a white person.  In New York City, 86% of everyone charged with a possession of pot/marijuana in 2008 was a Black or Latino.

Clearly, these numbers show a lopsided philosophy of law enforcement.  The most disturbing component of this analysis, however, is that federal studies indicate that young white people use marijuana/pot more than Blacks and Latinos.

For more information on the inference of race in drug cases, read my book titled, “The Drug War: The Other Casualties.”  It can be downloaded on this website for free.