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Pot as Pretext: Marijuana, Race, and the New Disorder in New York City Street Policing

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  • Amanda Geller
  • Jeffrey Fagan

Abstract

Although possession of small quantities of marijuana has been decriminalized in New York State since the late 1970s, arrests for marijuana possession in New York City have increased more than tenfold since the mid‐1990s, and remain high more than 10 years later. This rise has been a notable component of the city's “Order Maintenance Policing” strategy, designed to aggressively target low‐level offenses, usually through street interdictions known as “stop, question, and frisk” activity. We analyze data on 2.2 million stops and arrests carried out from 2004 to 2008, and identify significant racial disparities in the implementation of marijuana enforcement. These disparities, present in both stops and arrests, are robust to controls for social structure, local crime conditions, and stop levels more broadly. The racial imbalance in marijuana enforcement in black neighborhoods suggests a “doubling down” of street‐level policing in places already subject to heightened scrutiny in the search for weapons, a link suggesting that the policing of marijuana may be a pretext in the search for guns. Despite these ties, however, we show no significant relationship between marijuana enforcement activity and the likelihood of seizing firearms or other weapons. We also show that a large proportion of marijuana enforcement lacks constitutional justification under either federal or New York law. Marijuana stops are more prevalent in precincts where “other” and “high‐crime area” justifications are more likely to be reported, two factors that are constitutionally insufficient to justify a street stop. The racial skew, questionable constitutionality, and limited efficiency of marijuana enforcement in detecting serious crimes suggest that nonwhite New Yorkers bear a racial tax from contemporary policing strategy, a social cost not offset by any substantial observed benefits to public safety.

Suggested Citation

  • Amanda Geller & Jeffrey Fagan, 2010. "Pot as Pretext: Marijuana, Race, and the New Disorder in New York City Street Policing," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 591-633, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:empleg:v:7:y:2010:i:4:p:591-633
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-1461.2010.01190.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. van Ours, Jan C., 2003. "Is cannabis a stepping-stone for cocaine?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 539-554, July.
    2. Saxe, L. & Kadushin, C. & Beveridge, A. & Livert, D. & Tighe, E. & Rindskopf, D. & Ford, J. & Brodsky, A., 2001. "The visibility of illicit drugs: Implications for community-based drug control strategies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(12), pages 1987-1994.
    3. Golub, A. & Johnson, B.D., 2001. "Variation in youthful risks of progression from alcohol and tobacco to marijuana and to hard drugs across generations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(2), pages 225-232.
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    Cited by:

    1. Greg Goelzhauser, 2024. "Constitutional accountability for police shootings," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 92-108, March.
    2. Jose Torres & Jacob Apkarian & James Hawdon, 2016. "Banishment in Public Housing: Testing an Evolution of Broken Windows," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-26, October.
    3. Garth Davies & Jeffrey Fagan, 2012. "Crime and Enforcement in Immigrant Neighborhoods," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 641(1), pages 99-124, May.
    4. Ely Aaronson & Gil Rothschild‐Elyassi, 2021. "The symbiotic tensions of the regulatory–carceral state: The case of cannabis legalization," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(S1), pages 23-39, November.
    5. Williams, Jenny & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Smart, Rosanna, 2019. "De Facto or De Jure? Ethnic Differences in Quit Responses to Legal Protections of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries," IZA Discussion Papers 12114, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Kevin Petersen & David Weisburd & Sydney Fay & Elizabeth Eggins & Lorraine Mazerolle, 2023. "Police stops to reduce crime: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), March.
    7. Jeffrey Fagan & Garth Davies & Adam Carlis, 2012. "Race and Selective Enforcement in Public Housing," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(4), pages 697-728, December.
    8. Tom R. Tyler & Jeffrey Fagan & Amanda Geller, 2014. "Street Stops and Police Legitimacy: Teachable Moments in Young Urban Men's Legal Socialization," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 751-785, December.
    9. Gearhart, Michael C. & Berg, Kristen & Barnhart, Sheila & Bender, Annah & Jones, Courtney, 2023. "Police behaviors and procedural justice: Testing predictors of police-initiated post-traumatic stress symptoms," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. McCarty, William P. & Meng, Zhe & Buslik, Marc S. & Moreno, Rafael, 2021. "Body-worn cameras and arrest: Zooming in on disaggregated metrics and possible unintended consequences," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. David Weisburd & Kevin Petersen & Taryn Zastrow & Robert Davis & Lorraine Mazerolle & Elizabeth Eggins, 2021. "PROTOCOL: Police stops to reduce crime: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), June.

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