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"The American Civil Liberties Union released a new report that showed Black people are almost 3.5 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession in South Carolina, despite comparable national marijuana usage rates."
from aclusc.org: "The report, A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform, details marijuana possession arrests from 2010 to 2018 and updates our unprecedented national report published in 2013, The War on Marijuana in Black and White. The disturbing findings of this new research show that despite several states having reformed marijuana policy over the last decade, far too much has remained unchanged when it comes to racial disparities in arrests. Key findings include:
Across the U.S., law enforcement made more than 6.1 million marijuana-related arrests from 2010 to2018. In South Carolina alone, there were 38,289 marijuana arrests in 2018, the vast majority of which (34,229) were for possession. In 2018, marijuana possession arrests accounted for 48 percent of all drug arrests in South Carolina.
South Carolina had the second highest marijuana possession arrest rate in the nation.
Overall national arrest rates have trended downward, however in South Carolina, marijuana possession arrests have actually increased 52.8% percent from 2010 to 2018.
Nationally, in 2018, law enforcement made more marijuana arrests than for all violent crimes combined.
A Black person in South Carolina is 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possessionthan a white person in 2018, up from 2.8 times more likely to be arrested in 2010 and 1.8 times more likely to be arrested in 2001.
Pickens, Oconee, Horry, Lexington, and Greenville counties have the largest disparities in marijuana arrests, ranging from 8.36x (Pickens) to 5.25x (Greenville).
Seven of the top 20 counties in the United States for marijuana possession arrest rates are in South Carolina. The counties and their rankings are Chester (#1), Newberry (#3), Darlington (#5), Marion (#7), Laurens (#13), Kershaw (#14), and Colleton (#17) counties."
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