Crime & Safety

Is Race a Factor in Marijuana-Related Arrests in Montgomery County?

Despite the fact that rates of marijuana usage are about equal for both groups, a new ACLU report claims that black people are more likely to be arrested.

Want to smoke marijuana in Montgomery County? You’ll have better luck getting away with it if you’re white than if you’re black.

In fact, the rate of black people arrested for marijuana possession in Montgomery County is “stunning,” according to a report released by the ACLU that compares rates of marijuana possession arrests for black and white people in the United States.

“Despite the fact that marijuana is used at comparable rates by whites and Blacks, state and local governments have aggressively enforced marijuana laws selectively against Black people and communities,” the report reads. 

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The War on Marijuana, in Black and White, is attached to this article as a PDF.

Maryland has the fourth highest number of arrests for possession in the country regardless of race—about 409 out of 100,000 people in the state have been arrested for having marijuana. The national average is about 256 per 100,000. 

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In counties with more wealth, black people are two to eight times more likely to be arrested for possession than white people.

And in Montgomery County, black people are more than three times more likely to be arrested than white people, according to the report. Another way of looking at it: 463 black people per 100,000 residents are arrested for possession.

Wealth aside, Baltimore City had the highest disparity in arrest rates in Maryland—black people are five times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.

The study did not include arrest rates of people who were described as any race other than either "black" or "white."


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