America's long-running war on drugs has disproportionately hurt minorities. It seems that marijuana decriminalization has not leveled the playing fields.Black men are 12x more likely to be incarcerated in America than white men. Since 1986, black men have seen a decline in college enrollment.Public policy is my specialty. My book, From Criminalizing to Deccriminalizing Marijuana: Politics of Social Control, aims to give a historical overview of marijuana legislation and its effect on minorities.Uneven easingSome laws governing marijuana use are being relaxed. Twenty-five states had decriminalized marijuana use as of early 2020. 11 states allow adult recreational marijuana use. These reforms directly affect adults aged 21 and over, but also have an indirect impact on younger Americans.Even though marijuana remains illegal for those under 21 years old, evidence is mounting that decriminalization is increasing illegal marijuana use.My book explains that young people have been the primary buyers of marijuana. Many teenagers in the United States have made smoking marijuana a part of their growing up, something that is not being acknowledged by any marijuana reform advocacy analysis.Crime data also shows that minority youth are still being arrested and convicted of marijuana offenses, even in permissive legal settings.Youth using marijuanaBetween 2000 and 2014, the self-reported marijuana use rates among Americans aged 15 years or older increased by more than twofold. This includes teens and people under 21 years of age, for whom marijuana is still illegal and will likely continue to be so.Advocates for marijuana reform forget that marijuana legalization will encourage more marijuana use, particularly by marginalized Americans who purchase the drug illegally.Arrest data shows that Colorado legalized recreational marijuana for anyone over 21. This led to a significant rise in arrests of Hispanics and African Americans under the legal age limit. Moreover, the arrests of minorities decreased.Continue the storyWashington state saw an increase in marijuana arrests of 90% between 2008-2014, while the hazard rate for African Americans was unchanged. They were twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana charges than whites.Decriminalization has not done much to alter the historical pattern of national marijuana arrest trends.What is the driving force behind reform?Liberal Americans believe that marijuana legalization is a catalyst for reform.There are three distinct types of marijuana policy reform: decriminalization for possessing small amounts of marijuana, legalizing medicinal marijuana and decriminalizing marijuana recreational use.In 2000, the reform diffusion trend was accelerated when Nevada and Hawaii legalized medical marijuana.This marked the beginning of the political normalization for marijuana reform. In states that had a constitution with a direct democracy measure, medical marijuana laws were previously largely reformed by ballot initiatives.My book analyzes the political, economic, and demographic predictors for each type of policy change from 2000 to 2014. These results show that increasing marijuana use rates, a ballot initiative giving voters the opportunity to vote on the matter, and the experiences of neighboring states are the key factors driving decriminalization.The strongest predictor factor in all three reform cases was usage rates. These rates remained relatively unchanged up until the decriminalization wave two decades ago. With the reform of state laws, usage rates began to rise, but only marginally. They have increased by more than 80% nationally since 2000.The states with the highest spikes in crime are those that are leaders in decriminalization and are also known for being more permissive regarding possession, access, and oversight, such as Washington and Vermont.States with large African American populations, like Mississippi, North Carolina, and New York, were more likely than others to first decriminalize small amounts possession, possibly to address social injustice.Maryland, Virginia, and Rhode Island have legalized medical marijuana without decriminalizing small amounts of possession.The high rates of recreational marijuana use in states such as Massachusetts, Oregon, and Colorado led to the decriminalization of this activity.The consequencesReports on youth arrest rates may be indicative of unintended consequences from decriminalization.These are the consequences of increased police discretion, which encourages youth consumption in illegal market and aggravating racial issues in juvenile justice.Reform advocates must address the historical injustices of the war against drugs. They need to find a way to combat the cultural promotion and use of marijuana, which is inextricably linked to the political promotion for decriminalization.Get the best of The Conversation every weekend. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.This article was republished by The Conversation, a non-profit news site that shares ideas from academic experts. Nikolay Anguelov, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.Continue reading:Nikolay Anguelov is not affiliated with any company or organization that would be benefited from this article. He has not disclosed any relevant affiliations, other than their academic appointment.
