Drug Decriminalization in Maryland Through an African Centered Research Paradigm- Analysis and Recommendations

differential purchasing patterns that place Africans Americans at greater risk for arrest,
including purchasing marijuana out-doors, from strangers, and far from their homes
(Ramchand et al.,2006). These hypotheses, however, require further evaluation to disentangle
the mechanisms contributing to the persistent arrest rate dis-parities between
Whites and African Americans.Our results also suggest differential impact of
decriminalization by sex. Males experienced greater absolute/relative reduction for
possession-based arrests, but females appear to experience a higher relative reduction for
sales/manufacturing, which the percent decline among females was twice as much as it
was among males. This heterogeneity of effect may, in part, be a result of the preexisting
gender differences in arrest rates prior to decriminalization. Females had an overall lower
arrest rate before marijuana decriminalization, thus, any declines in arrest rates, even
small ones, can result in a large relative reduction.Further exploration of gender-based
differences following decriminalization is warranted.Finally, the impact of
decriminalization appears to be somewhat similar across age groups. This is congruent
with prior work to show that decriminalization policies lead to significantly lower rates of
pos-session-based arrest (up to 75%) for both adults and youths (Plunket al., 2019). Our
research, however, further extends prior work to show that, even though absolute
differences may be similar between age groups, there were relative differences for
sales/manufacturing-based arrest rates by up to an order of 3-folds. It has been speculated
that law enforcement officers may compensate for their inability to arrest youths for
marijuana possession by arresting them more frequently for mar-ijuana
sales/manufacturing (i.e., possession with intent to distribute) (Smart and Kleiman, 2019).
This was not supported by our data. In fact, sales/manufacturing-based arrest rates did not
increase following marijuana decriminalization for any of the demographic groups in our
analyses.” (Tran et al, 2020).
This article, published this month, shows how the field of decriminalization research is constantly
evolving, but having a conceptual understanding of anti-Blackness can be useful to provide a frame
through while to view and process this evolving literature base.
Tran et al also raise an important, though often overlooked, demographic component within
research, the importance when possible of disaggregating data between Black men and Black
women. An African centered research paradigm understands that white supremacy impacts Black
men and Black women differently, and this disaggregation seeks to acquire more specificity within
its analysis around how gender impacts drug policy. As Tran et al, as well as a bevy of others point
out, drug policy has specifically, though not exclusively, targeted Black men, and it important that
disparity analysis be supplemented with meta level analysis showing no only how policy changes
create disparities between white and Black communities, but also centered communities most
impacted by these policies. While, as previously stated, these policies impact the entire Black
community, Black men appeared to particularly be targeted by these forms of policing. This is
important, as the current trend toward “intersectional” analysis has at times attempted, laudably,
to centre a diversity of marginalized groups, specifically showing disparities between black women
and white women to show how Black women’s experiences differ from white womens. While this
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