Drug laws drive racism in the justice system

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Drug laws drive racism in the justice system

24 February 2015

The numbers in black and white

The conclusions of a recent report from Release and the London School of Economics and Political Science into the enforcement of drug laws in England and Wales are blunt and make for depressingly familiar reading:

  • Black and Asian communities have lower rates of illegal drug use than the white majority.
  • BUT, enforcement of drug laws is unfairly focused on these communities.
  • Black and Asian people are stopped and searched for drugs at a much higher rate than white people.
  • Black people are subject to harsher sanctions for drug possession offences.

The report is based on analysis of official statistics provided by the MoJ and the Metropolitan police for 2009/10. and is written by Niamh Eastwood, Director of Release and Michael Shiner and Daniel Bear from the LSE.

Click here to read the full article.

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