Marijuana use higher among white New Yorkers, though 94% of pot busts are people of color
White people in New York City report smoking marijuana at a higher rate than black and Latinx city residents, though the vast majority of people arrested for low-level marijuana-related crimes are people of color, a new study by the city Department of Health revealed Tuesday.
Nearly a quarter of white city residents reported having smoked weed within the last year, according to the report, which documented use from 2015 and 2016 and is the department’s first comprehensive report on cannabis use in New York City. That number is about 10 percent higher than reported use among black respondents and almost twice as high as reported use among Latinx respondents. The survey asked New Yorkers aged 12 and older about their cannabis use in within the last year.
“The Health Department’s study on cannabis use in our city shows what we have long known — that white people use marijuana at significantly higher rates than do black people and Latinos,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who supports marijuana legalization. “Yet nearly 90 percent of those arrested for marijuana possession have been black and brown people. This is why the Brooklyn DA’s office no longer prosecutes anyone for simple possession of marijuana.”