By: Dan Taylor, Trilogy Wellness Marketing Coordinator
ELLICOTT CITY, Md- As social justice comes to the forefront during Black History Month, a report shows that Maryland is below a nationwide trend when it comes to the disparities of cannabis arrests of African Americans. But some Maryland counties are well above the national average.
A study conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union, shows that African-Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than whites. And in some cases, states and local counties are double if not triple the national average.
Maryland is among twenty-six states that are below the national average. According to the ACLU, in Maryland, African Americans are 2.1 times likely to be arrested for cannabis possession. However, some Maryland counties are trending in the exact opposite direction.
In Carroll and Frederick counties, African Americans are more than double the national average, with Black folks are seven times more likely to be arrested in Carroll and six times more likely to be arrested in Frederick for cannabis possession.
States such as Montana and Kentucky, showed African Americans were almost ten times likely to be arrested for cannabis than whites.
The ACLU discovered that more than six million cannabis related arrests between 2010-2018. Law enforcement made almost 700,000 cannabis arrests in 2018. Those arrests accounted for 43% of all drug arrests.