With Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program just a few months away from debuting, black adults across the state are still 8 times more likely than white adults to be arrested for cannabis, according to a new report released by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties, black adults are nearly 7 times more likely than white adults to be arrested for pot, according to the report. In Delaware County, the rate drops down to nearly 5 times more likely. And in Berks County, it's around 4 times more likely.
“Racial disparities have actually gotten worse,” Andrew Hoover, spokesman for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said. “These arrests create major barriers for people in their daily lives.”
The rates are especially glaring because “marijuana use is virtually identical across the races,” Matt Stroud, of the ACLU, said.
Philadelphia, which decriminalized small amounts of personal use pot three years ago, has the lowest racial disparity with black adults three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses compared to their white counterparts
“That’s a growing problem because we see these arrests are primarily young people,” Chris Goldstein, Temple University adjunct professor and marijuana activist, added.
Roughly 70 percent of all arrests in Philadelphia were millennials between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.
“This is a very serious thing for young people - they lose their chances of going to college and getting jobs,” Goldstein said.
The report used data submitted by Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies to the state Uniform Crime Reporting System.
Between 2010 and 2016, nearly 178,000 people were arrested throughout the state for pot. The majority of those arrests were for possession, which accounts for half of the state’s total drug arrests even as cities and counties drown under the weight of a burgeoning and persistent opioid crisis.
Philadelphia decriminalized cannabis in October 2014. A $25 fine was implemented for people possessing fewer than 30 grams of marijuana and up to 8 grams of hash, but police maintained the power to arrest people at their discretion.
“When you leave things to be subjective, racial bias creeps in. We need to decriminalize across the board,” State Rep. Jordan Harris of Philadelphia and chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, said.
Decriminalization in Philadelphia led to an 88 percent decrease in marijuana-related offenses in the last three years, according to the report. But arrests surged in other parts of the state. Pennsylvania’s overall possession arrest numbers for adults and minors combined increased by nearly 25 percent between 2010 and 2016.
“I would much rather my tax dollars going to our police stopping gun violence, making sure child predators stay off our streets, than arrest a guy who smokes a doobie on his way to work or his way from work,” Harris said.
This is a developing story. NBC10 is waiting for comment from the Philadelphia Police Department and State Sen. Daylin Leach for comment. Please check back for updates.
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