Marijuana arrest disparities gain attention with Biden’s pardon announcement
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — President Biden’s decision to pardon federal simple marijuana possessions is opening up conversations about what that will mean on the local level. With current marijuana arrest disparities, some argue changes could be beneficial to communities of color.
The president is calling on Governors to address the problem on a state level. Governor Eric Holcomb is out of the country right now, so we are hoping to get his take on the issue later. In the meantime, according to data from the ACLU, Black people are arrested 3.5 times more for marijuana than white people in Indiana.
President Biden made a sweeping move that will essentially wipe out federal marijuana simple possession.
“No one should be in jail just for using possession of marijuana, while black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates. Black and brown people are arrested and prosecuted at disproportionate rates,” said President Biden after his announcement Thursday.
State Representative Vanessa Summers says, it’ll likely be a long time coming before we see such a move in the Hoosier state, but this decision opens the door to another conversation, the disproportionate marijuana arrests in black and lower income communities.
“He saw the number of people that were in jail for simple cannabis marijuana offenses and the time they were getting,” Summers said.
Calling for some type of change is important she says, as the current status quo breeds future inequities. According to a report: A Tale of Two Countries Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform, Indiana ranks 24th in the nation for marijuana arrests racial disparities.
“It’s always going to go to the least of us and in many instances the African American community tends to be the ones that don’t have the upper hand,” said Summers. “They are disproportionately arrested and will not get a break to further their lives or better their lives.”
Marion County’s prosecutor has decided against prosecuting simple marijuana possession but several other donut counties see disparities as high as 10 times the rate of white Hoosiers.
“When you have all of this on you how do you better yourself.”
The Indianapolis Department of Health and safety in partnership with the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic is holding an expungement event Saturday at the Hill Park Center.