LAW ENFORCEMENT

Minnesota: African Americans Six Times More Likely Than Whites To Be Arrested For Marijuana Possession

by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Posted on April 21, 2014June 21, 2022

African Americans are arrested for marijuana possession offenses in Minnesota at a rate that is more than six-times higher than that of Caucasians, according to an analysis of 2011 FBI arrest data released today by the nonpartisan think-tank Minnesota 2020 and commissioned in part by Minnesota NORML. The report estimated that the collateral costs of a low-level marijuana arrest may total as much as $76,000 over the course of a decade, including attorney fees, fines, costs associated with attending mandatory drug treatment, lost income and job prospects, and barriers to public assistance and federal aid.

ACTIVISM

The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste

by Russ Belville
Posted on March 10, 2010September 1, 2020

Michelle Alexander lays it all out in her new book, The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste:

ACTIVISM

American Bar Association’s Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice To Convene A Seminar On Drug Prohibition And The Effect On Minorities

by Allen St. Pierre, Former NORML Executive Director
Posted on July 28, 2008June 10, 2020

Ask any seasoned drug policy reformer about one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in reforming cannabis laws and they’ll quickly acknowledge that to be the lack of both outreach to and participation from minorities (and women).