Racial disparity amongst drug users/offenders

I always find it dumbfounding to see the stats on drug users vs. drug offenders serving time by race. It is absolute blatant proof of a racist system. I can't believe that nationwide, whites make up 72% of all drug users, and in New York State, 89% of people serving drug sentences are black. That is despicable.

Eighty-nine percent of individuals serving drug sentences in New York are black and Hispanic, so people of color would benefit from giving judges discretion to send offenders to treatment, said Denise O'Donnell, chairwoman of the commission and Gov. David Paterson's deputy secretary for public safety.

Panel wants changes to drug penalties | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette

According to the Federal Household Survey, there were "an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998." Despite those figures, Blacks constitute 36.8 percent of those arrested for drug violations and over 42 percent of those in federal prisons for drug violations. African-Americans comprise almost 58 percent of those in state prisons for drug felonies.

EURweb.com - Black Myths

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