New Jersey Marijuana Arrests Are Criminalizing Black Residents: Study

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. If you’re a believer in Einstein’s insanity theory, then you should know by now that society can’t “arrest marijuana out of existence,” according to a Thursday report from the ACLU-New Jersey.

The ACLU-NJ study analyzed marijuana possession arrest data for every county, municipality, and legislative district in the state in an attempt to illustrate “the toll of a marijuana arrest” through data and stories.

The group’s conclusion wasn’t encouraging, it stated.

“Marijuana prohibition has been a failure, and it has created a civil rights crisis in New Jersey,” said ACLU-NJ Policy Counsel Dianna Houenou.

According to the study, New Jersey is making more arrests for marijuana possession than ever before.

“In 2013, New Jersey law enforcement made 24,067 marijuana possession arrests, 26 percent more than in 2000, when police made 19,607 arrests,” the ACLU-NJ wrote. “Between 2000 and 2013, New Jersey police made nearly 280,000 total marijuana possession arrests.”

Read the full report here.

RACIAL DISPARITY IN POT ARRESTS

According to the 2017 report, a serious racial disparity exists in marijuana arrest data throughout New Jersey.

Despite similar usage rates of marijuana, black New Jerseyans were arrested at a rate three-times higher than whites between 2000 and 2013, which amounts to “needless criminalization of black communities,” Houenou said.

The report identified the parts of New Jersey with the highest arrest rates, as well as the highest disparities. According to the study, the five counties with the highest black/white disparity in 2013 were:

• Ocean
• Salem
• Hunterdon
• Monmouth
• Gloucester

According to the study, the five counties with the highest per capita arrest rate in 2013 were:

• Cape May
• Salem
• Monmouth
• Union
• Cumberland

“New Jersey’s marijuana laws are failing people of color,” said Richard Smith, president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference.

“Our state’s criminal justice system has placed a disproportionate burden on people of color, and ending marijuana prohibition for adults is a start to lifting it,” Smith said. “Our state has a choice: it can generate revenue to invest in our communities, or it can waste resources to target our communities for arrest unfairly and unnecessarily. The answer is clear: it’s time for legalization, taxation, and regulation of marijuana for adults.”

• See related article: New Jersey Marijuana Patients Offer Human Side To Weed Debate

“Every 22 minutes there’s a marijuana possession arrest in New Jersey,” cannabis advocacy group New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform stated. “But despite similar usage rates among whites and blacks, those arrests are disproportionately of black New Jerseyans. Black residents made up 36 percent of the state’s possession arrests in 2013, even though they represented only about 14 percent of the overall population.”

“It’s a civil rights crisis, and the racial disparities grow each year,” the group stated.

IT'S JUST A POT ARREST, WHAT COULD HAPPEN?

“The ineffective and harmful prohibition of marijuana has inflicted far more harm on adults than the drug itself,” said David Nathan, Princeton-based psychiatrist, founder of the international organization Doctors for Cannabis Regulation.

According to the ACLU-NJ, a marijuana arrest can have serious, lingering effects for a person in New Jersey.

“Marijuana arrests bring collateral consequences that can leave a lifelong impact: ineligibility for some government benefits, removing people from the workforce, lost educational and employment opportunities, and jeopardizing custody of one’s children, in addition to bearing the stigma and consequences of having a felony conviction.”

• See related article: N.J. Marijuana Arrest Totals Remain High

MARIJUANA BUSTS CONTINUE IN NEW JERSEY

The ACLU report comes a week before a scheduled hearing in the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss S-3195, a bill introduced by Sen. Nicholas Scutari that would legalize adult marijuana use.

• See related article: New Jersey Senator's Marijuana Legalization Bill Would Tax, Regulate Weed

But while lawmakers debate, arrests continue to take place.

“As a former narcotics detective, I have seen officers spend precious time and resources to enforce marijuana laws that simply do not work,” said Lieut. Nick Bucci, a retired New Jersey State Trooper. “It’s time to free up our law enforcement and criminal justice system to respond to real public safety threats.

Read about some of the recent marijuana arrests that have taken place in New Jersey below (click headline to read the article):

Cops Say Essex County Marijuana Bust Is Among Area's 'Largest Ever'

• Police said that they found a “sophisticated indoor marijuana farm” inside a four-car garage in New Jersey.

Authorities Break Up Multi-County Marijuana Distribution Ring

• Fourteen people from four North Jersey counties were arrested and $267,000, 10 pounds of marijuana, and 1,000 grams of candy laced with THC after a four-month long investigation, authorities announced.

Cops Seize $750K of Marijuana in Bergen County

• Police seized $750,000 worth of marijuana that was being transported through Bergen County, authorities said.

Multi-Million-Dollar Pot Operation In Metuchen, Prosecutor Says

• Cops seized 161 marijuana plants, 16 pounds of marijuana and more from a Metuchen warehouse.

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