Racial differences in marijuana-users’ risk of arrest in the United States

A recent study of arrest data show that African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession offences than Whites, even though general prevalence estimates show that they are no more likely to be using. The current study investigates the purchase patterns of marijuana...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drug and alcohol dependence 2006-10, Vol.84 (3), p.264-272
Main Authors: Ramchand, Rajeev, Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo, Iguchi, Martin Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
African American
African Americans - statistics & numerical data
Arrests
Biological and medical sciences
Black American people
Cannabis
Child
Commerce - statistics & numerical data
Demography
Drug addiction
Drug markets
Drug trafficking
Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data
European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Male
Marijuana
Marijuana Abuse - ethnology
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Prisoners - statistics & numerical data
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Racial differences
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Toxicology
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:A recent study of arrest data show that African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession offences than Whites, even though general prevalence estimates show that they are no more likely to be using. The current study investigates the purchase patterns of marijuana users from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to evaluate whether differences in purchasing behaviors exist across racial groups. Although in general people who purchase marijuana are more likely to buy in private settings and from someone they know, this analysis shows that African Americans are statistically more likely to engage in risky purchasing behaviors that increase their likelihood of arrest. Using trivariate probit regression with demographic, drug use, and drug market covariates, analyses reveal that African Americans are nearly twice as likely to buy outdoors (0.31 versus 0.14), three times more likely to buy from a stranger (0.30 versus 0.09), and significantly more likely to buy away from their homes (0.61 versus 0.48). These results provide an additional explanation for the differential in arrest rates between African Americans and Whites.
ISSN:0376-8716
1879-0046
DOI:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.02.010