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

This concept of promoting socio-economic cohesion and social integration within the
Black community also serves as a starting point to address another critical element of the drug
decriminalization debate which researchers must address. The fear of violence and the interaction
between street level drug sales and violence. Researchers within the standard narrative of
addiction, as previously noted, have argued that decriminalization would free up police resources
by eliminating the need for enforcing drug prohibition, allowing these resources to flow to
addressing more serious crimes. In addition to reflecting a misunderstanding of how policing
works, this argument fails to address the role fear of crime and specifically the spectre of violence
plays in relation to Karam’s analysis of Black bodies being a repository of societies fear of the
irrational, racialized “other”. By claiming decriminalization helps to stop violence, researchers risk
reinforcing the myth of the irrational racialized other which drives calls for prohibition. It is
important to point out the reality that, in aggregate, violence rates for whites and Blacks are
relatively similar, with condensed poverty being an aggravating factor in both communities
(Wilson, 2015). However, in an attempt to avoid feeding into the myth of Black on Black crime,
researchers risk downplaying the very real dynamic of increased Black morality though homicide
in impoverished urban areas and increased Black vulnerability, particularly Black males, to violent
death in general and regardless of class. Berthelot, alongside other researchers, presents a clear
summation of the data in regards to Black vulnerability to violent death, writing:
“To highlight racial variance, race-specific predicted probabilities of victimization
risk were calculated and are presented in Table 3. All predictors were set at their mean
with the exception of the structural disadvantage index and family income, which were
adjusted to assess predicted probabilities of victimization risk at various levels of individual
and aggregate deprivation. The probability that a Black individual in a commu-nity
with average levels of disadvantage and average family income will be murdered is 6 times
greater than that for a comparable White person. If the same Black individual lives in a
highly disadvantaged area, their risk grows to nearly 7 times that of a similarly situated
White person. In contrast, if the same Black person resided in a more affluent area he or
she would reduce their risk to only 5 times that of a similar White individual. To further
illustrate racial distinctions, a Black individual in the least deprived area with family
income in the 90th percentile, experiences a 2.1 times greater likelihood of being murdered
than a low-income White in a highly disadvantaged area.” (Berthelot et al.)
Rather than seeing this as an argument to be glossed over in the name of making an argument for
drug decriminalization, an African-centered research paradigm would view the increased rates of
violence-related mortality as a very real issue for people of African descent. This view would then
be used as an argument in favor of decriminalization. It is true that there is clear evidence of
increased violence in Black communities, but there is little clear evidence that increased funding
for police operations has any long term deterrent effect on this violence (Alexander, 2020).
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