African Americans in Rhode Island are disproportionately affected by drug laws, according to new report from the American Civil Liberties Union and the nonprofit Human Rights Watch.
The numbers – culled from national 2014 law enforcement data – show black residents in Rhode Island are nearly three times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than white residents.
According to ACLU of Rhode Island’s policy analyst Hillary Davis, that’s despite an overall drop in arrests for drug crimes in the state.
“We’re showing that even as we’re arresting fewer people, we are focusing more on arresting black individuals for drug possession, and this just reinforces what we’ve known colloquially for a while, but now there’s some hard evidence backing that up,” said Davis.
Davis says she hopes the report will spark a stronger dialogue about how to rectify the disparity.
“We can always do better about identifying our disparities in criminal justice rates, and why that’s happening,” said Davis. “We certainly are supportive of the legalization of marijuana. We think the amount of money and effort spent on criminalizing misconduct leads to these disparate rates.”
Legalizing recreational marijuana has been discussed in Rhode Island but has never made it through the General Assembly or onto a ballot measure. A proposal is on the Massachusetts ballot this November, and some Rhode Island lawmakers say they’ll consider the issue after the Bay State vote.
