Over the years there has been racial disparity reported between Black and White people in relation to cannabis related crimes.
According to findings in a new study, cannabis decriminalization policy reduces the racial disparity in arrests for possession.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego have attempted to assess whether decriminalization can reduce racial disparity in arrests for cannabis possessions.
Their study was published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Social Science & Medicine, and has considered the FBI Uniform Crime Report data from 37 U.S. states from 2000 to 2019.
According to the findings, cannabis possession arrest rates declined over 70% among adults and over 40% among youths after cannabis decriminalization in 11 states.
The racial disparity among adults decreased by 17% arrest rates between Blacks and Whites. There was no evidence for reducing the racial disparity between Black and White young people after decriminalization.
The data analysis suggests that cannabis decriminalization was associated with a decline in arrest rates among Blacks and Whites.
The researchers hav noted that although decriminalization law provisions differ state by state, which potentially leads to differential policy impact, the overall reduction in arrest rates demonstrates the beneficial effects of cannabis decriminalization in racial disparity
“Cannabis decriminalization seemed to be particularly beneficial to Blacks, who were suffering the most from the adverse consequences of criminal penalties. Taken together, we recommend that lawmakers and public health researchers reconsider cannabis decriminalization as an option of cannabis liberalization, particularly in states concerning the unintended consequences and implementation costs of medical and recreational cannabis legalization,” the study said.
