BLACKS' RISK OF DRUG ARREST IS A GRIM REALITY

"Whites are the majority of drug offenders, but blacks are the majority
sent to prison on drug charges." - From "Targeting Blacks: Drug Law
Enforcement and Race in the United States."

An African-American father in Milwaukee with teenage sons noticed that
when the older one borrowed the family car, there was a peculiar smell
the next day. It made the father go ballistic; he had a stern talk
with his sons about the dangers of marijuana.

He told them he didn't condone them smoking weed (even if his
baby-boomer background didn't exactly make him all that credible on
the issue). Mainly, he wanted them to understand young black males
couldn't take those kinds of chances these days.

"If a cop stopped them and smelled it, their future would be ruined,"
he said.

His point was well-taken. African-Americans are arrested and convicted
for drug offenses at a much greater rate than whites in America and,
as it turns out, particularly in Milwaukee.

While some suburban teenagers probably use illegal drugs as frequently
as teens in the central city of Milwaukee, the difference is law
enforcement in those places doesn't pursue drug laws in the same way.

The end results are statistics like those in two new reports from The
Sentencing Project, a non-profit criminal justice advocacy group, and
the Human Rights Watch. According to the reports, Wisconsin has the
nation's highest racial disparity in incarceration for drug offenses,
and Milwaukee has the second-highest racial disparity in drug arrests
among U.S. cities.

This is a city where blacks are seven times more likely to be arrested
for a drug offense than whites, and a state where they are 42 times
more likely to receive a prison term.

I'd say the black father's advice to his sons was pretty
sound.

It's one of the most glaring inequities in the criminal justice
system; while most studies show that both blacks and whites of various
economic levels use illegal drugs at the same rate, the vast majority
of people behind bars for using illegal drugs are African-Americans.

When you consider the wide range of illegal drugs in America - not
only street drugs like marijuana, cocaine and crystal meth, but also
improperly obtained prescription drugs and other substances - it seems
clear only one group of people is paying the legal price for a nation
of abusers.

It reminds me of the line by comedian Chris Rock, who noted all the
late-night commercials from drug companies offering mood-altering
medications. Rock said that was proof the government wasn't against
all drugs; they just wanted you to use their drugs.

The Sentencing Project puts real numbers behind a push for
incarceration that has raised Milwaukee's drug arrest rate more than
200% since 1980. Similar increases have been found in other U.S.
cities, usually with the same kind of racial disparity.

It's a situation many African-American families - including my own -
know all too well. Family members with drug addictions get in legal
trouble but seldom receive the help they need through the criminal
justice system. Many times, it's a rootless existence until they
either hit rock bottom or finally seek help with the guidance of
family or friends.

In a society that makes self-medication seem almost normal, it seems
absurd to make taking drugs to escape personal problems a criminal
offense.

Particularly if only one color of people end up paying the
price.