Drugs More Likely Used By Whites, But Blacks More Likely Jailed for It

*It’s becoming more and more apparent that white people are more likely to use drugs, but black people are more likely to go to jail for it. This country’s criminal justice system is top-heavy with black men in particular being arrested for nonviolent drug use; while their white counterparts continue to get high in the privacy of their wherever. It is important to not forget just how much of a role the War on Drugs and its disproportionate impact on Black families and communities plays in the perpetuation of racism and inequality.  

Did you know that black people now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million people who fill America’s jails and prisons? Blacks find themselves incarcerated at a rate nearly six times that of whites.

And it is the disparity in drug prosecutions and sentencing that contribute significantly to the disproportionately high numbers of black people who are incarcerated. The NAACP reports that despite the fact that five times as many white people are using drugs as black people, black people wind up being sent to prison on drug related charges 10 times more often than white people. 

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