Study Finds Blacks More Likely to Be Arrested for Marijuana Possession

Even as research shows that blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates, 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 released Tuesday.

In Berkeley, blacks accounted for 53 percent of all misdemeanor marijuana arrests reported to the California Department of Justice between 2002 and 2010. According to the U.S. Census, blacks made up 10 percent of Berkeley's population in 2010.

Marijuana arrests in Berkeley dropped to zero in 2011, compared to 67 recorded in 2010. While the ACLU study found that half of all drug arrests nationwide were for marijuana possession, pot busts in Berkeley never topped more than 20 percent of all drug arrests between 2002 and 2011.