ACLU study: Black Tennesseans arrested on pot charges four times as much as whites

photo A marijuana plant

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Black Tennesseans are arrested on marijuana possession charges four times as much as whites, despite both races using the drug at roughly the same rate, according to a new study by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Among urban counties, Davidson County had the third largest percentage increase in racial disparities in marijuana possession arrest rates in the country between 2001 and 2010. Over the course of the decade, the gap between black and white arrests for marijuana possession here grew by 355 percent.

In 2010, marijuana possession accounted for 42 percent of all drug arrests in Tennessee. All told for that year, state law enforcement agencies spent $42 million in enforcing marijuana possession laws in the state.

Read more from our news partners at The Tennessean.

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