Report: Blacks 5x More Likely to Be Arrested for Marijuana in Will

Written by Steven Jack

Although research shows that blacks and whites use marijuana at roughly the same rate, a nationwide study of law enforcement records has found that blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites. 

Between 2001 and 2010, there were 8 million marijuana arrests in the United States, or one pot arrest every 37 seconds at an annual cost of $3.6 billion, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released Tuesday.

In Will County, the report says, blacks are five times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession (a 500 percent disparity,) with 439 arrests per 100,000 residents, compared to just 87 arrests per 100,00 residents for white residents.

This compares to 1,526 arrests per 100,000 residents Illinois-wide for black residents, and 202 per 100,00 white residents, a 706 percent disparity.

In nearby counties: Cook showed a 720 percent disparity (blacks 7.2 times more likely than whites to be arrested,) Lake a 580 percent disparity, DuPage a 530 percent disparity and Kane a 570 percent disparity.

The ACLU officially endorses the complete legalization of marijuana in the report.

"Like America’s larger War on Drugs, America’s war on marijuana has been a failure," the report says. "The aggressive enforcement of marijuana possession laws needlessly ensnares hundreds of thousands of people in the criminal justice system, crowds our jails, is carried out in a racially biased manner, wastes millions of taxpayers’ dollars and has not reduced marijuana use or availability."

Read the full 187-page report here. (Will County and Illinois state data is on page 149.)

Alex Gronke contributed to this report.