After Virginia legalized pot, majority of defendants are still Black

A year after Virginia lawmakers legalized recreational marijuana with hopes of lessening racial disparities in enforcement, police in the state are still more likely to arrest Black people than White people for marijuana-related offenses, a Washington Post analysis found.

While marijuana arrests overall dropped in the year since Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize, Black adults accounted for nearly 60 percent of marijuana-related cases before the state’s general district and circuit courts, an analysis of marijuana-related code citations in the state’s court system concluded, despite Black people accounting for about 20 percent of the state population.

The findings echo results seen in other states and the District of Columbia, as state lawmakers across the country increasingly describe legalization as a vehicle for social equity — an intent of Democratic lawmakers in Virginia who hoped to counter the toll the nation’s war on drugs had on Black communities. Lawmakers in Maryland voiced the same hopes for impact when they decided to ask voters if they want to legalize recreational use on the ballot next month. Yet gaps between intent and implementation persist, with White entrepreneurs so far comprising most of the legal market as Black people continue to comprise a bulk of marijuana-related arrests nationwide.

[Read more at The Washington Post]

After Virginia legalized pot, majority of defendants are still Black

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