Do Blacks use drugs at the same rate as Whites?

Blacks and whites do not use drugs at similar rates, blacks just lie about not using drugs at high rates.

When discussing the issue of systemic racism, one argument that comes to its support is that there is a racial bias in drug arrests. This argument argues that multiple studies have found that blacks and whites tend to use drugs at similar rates, but whites are less likely to be arrested for drug offenses than blacks. This disparity between drug use and arrests by race has been argued to be due to systemic racism in the criminal justice system. In this post, I’ll argue that this disparity has nothing to do with racism, and that instead racial differences in drug use and purchasing are responsible.

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These studies get a large sample and then ask the respondent if they have ever used drugs recently. From there, they usually compare drug use by race to arrest rates for drug offenses by race. So the first part (asking about drug use) is based on self-reported data. First and foremost, it is true that studies have found that blacks and whites use drugs at similar rates, or that blacks have higher or slightly lower drug use than whites, but blacks are arrested more often for drug offenses. For example, Johnston et al. (2002)~{~{footnote content="Johnston, L.D., et al. (2002). Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} looked at 43,700 students and gave them a questionnaire that asks about their drug use. According to Johnston et al., “Use also tends to be much higher among White students than among African American or Hispanic students” (p. 6). Schanzenbach et al. (2016)~{~{footnote content="Schanzenbach, D.W., Nunn, R., et al. (2016). Twelve Facts about Incarceration and Prisoner Reentry. Brookings Institution. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} reported that whites have a higher rate of drug use, as can be seen in the chart below, but blacks are arrested at higher rates.

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Using data from SAMHSA, the ACLU reported that blacks report slightly higher cannabis use in the past month and past year, but whites report higher lifetime usage (50.7% for whites compared to 42.4% for blacks). Even though whites seem to use cannabis at higher rates overall, blacks are still arrested at higher rates for drug use (Edwards et al. 2020)~{~{footnote content="Edwards, E., et al. (2020). A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. ACLU. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}}. Human Rights Watch (2009)~{~{footnote content="Human Rights Watch (2009). Decades of Disparity: Drug Arrests and Race in the United States. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} remarked that blacks are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses, but this cannot be pinned onto higher drug use among blacks since blacks and whites use drugs at similar rates (Gorvin 2008)~{~{footnote content="Gorvin, I. (2008). HRW Report on Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}}.

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Utilizing a probability-based sample of 4,580 college students who completed an online questionnaire, McCabe et al. (2007)~{~{footnote content="McCabe, S.E., et al. (2007). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Drug Use. National Center for Biotechnology Information. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} found that Hispanic and white students reported higher drug use in college and before entering college when compared to blacks and Asians. Many commentators, like the YouTube political commentator Vaush and the political pundit Van Jones (in Emery 2016)~{~{footnote content="Emery, D. (2016). Discussion on Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}}, have echoed these findings as proof of systemic racism in the criminal justice system.

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Despite the overwhelming evidence showing this to be the case, these disparities are not a result of systemic racism. The null-hypothesis should not be that racism is to blame for these racial disparities, but rather it should be racial differences in how different racial groups use drugs and how often they do it. In reality, there is no reason to assume that the above findings are accurate for two strong reasons:

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~1. Blacks are more likely to lie on self-report surveys, especially those that deal with crimes, and blacks are more likely to lie about their drug use when compared to whites, thus artificially decreasing their actual drug use rates.

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2. Racial differences in drug consumption can explain why blacks are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses, even if drug use by race is similar or lower for blacks.

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Cernkovich, Giordano, and Rudolph (2000)~{~{footnote content="Cernkovich, S.A., Giordano, P.C., & Rudolph, J.L. (2000). Race, Crime, and Self-Reporting. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} found “evidence that black males’ self-reports of delinquency are less valid than the reports of other groups.” Hindelang, Hirschi, and Weis (1981)~{~{footnote content="Hindelang, M.J., Hirschi, T., & Weis, J.G. (1981). Measuring Delinquency. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}} reported that self-reports are less valid for groups like blacks, with similar findings by Huizinga and Elliott (1986)~{~{footnote content="Huizinga, D., & Elliott, D.S. (1986). Reassessing the Reliability and Validity of Self-Report Delinquency Measures. [Link](https:~/~/www.example.com)" /}}.

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