All Over Albany

NYCLU: New York has racial disparity in pot arrests

Black New Yorkers are 4.5 times more likely than white New Yorkers to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to a New York Civil Liberties Union report out this week looking at arrest data. The NYCLU notes this racial disparity exists in arrests even though surveys indicate whites in New York State use pot at higher rates than blacks.

Also out this week, a national report by the ACLU in which New York is tagged as having the highest marijuana arrest rate of any state (though DC's is even higher).

Said NYCLU exec director Donna Lieberman in a press release:

"New Yorkers should be embarrassed that our state leads the nation in marijuana arrests ... The crackdown on low-level marijuana possession needlessly hurts individuals and families - subjecting them to all sorts of collateral consequences like the loss of student financial aid and job opportunities. Governor Cuomo has pledged to clarify the state's marijuana laws to bring justice and common sense to drug enforcement in our state. We urge him to keep that promise."

Andrew Cuomo has proposed making the penalty for public possession of small amounts of pot, currently a misdemeanor, the same as private possession (a citation). He's said leveling the penalties is "about creating fairness and consistency in our laws since there is a blatant inconsistency in the way we deal with small amounts of marijuana possession."

New York State's high rate of pot arrests is driven in large part by New York City, where the issue is in turn driven in large part by the city's "stop and frisk" policies. For example, in New York County (Manhattan), blacks are more than 9 times as likely as whites to get arrested for pot possession, according to the NYCLU's calculations.

But there's a disparity in the Capital Region, too. Here are the "times more likely" figures from the NYCLU for the Cap Region core:

Albany County: 2.44
Rensselaer: 4.75
Saratoga: 4.20
Schenectady: 3.68

Earlier elsewhere:
+ Push for pot, now with lobbying muscle
+ Capital New York: Albany's unlikely marijuana legalization champion sees interest, but no movement yet

photo: Wikipedia user HighinBC (cc)