On CNN’s “OutFront” Wednesday night, Don Lemon insinuated that more African Americans are incarcerated for smoking pot due to racism within the law enforcement system. Also, they are getting their pot from “white kids in the suburbs.”
Lemon cited a report from the ACLU stating that African Americans are four times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana. The CNN reporter said that this is due to inequality within the justice system.
The ACLU report demonstrates that the United States wastes billions of dollars each year on racially based drug arrests. Not only do these arrests waste taxpayers money, but they also unfairly target African Americans, as well as other minorities.
Lemon cited a quote from President Barack Obama in January, saying that “ middle class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot and poor kids do.”
Former chief deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg disagreed with Lemon, stating that, according to the report, black middle class families had higher numbers of arrests, so race plays a very important role. “What I observed and was involved in when I saw it, we were targeting black areas,” he said.
Lemon countered that drug sentences vary depending on the area in which the individual was cited. For example, those cited in Georgia may receive a much harsher punishment than those in New York City, because the rate of crime is much higher in New York, and the law enforcement officials are focused on punishing bigger criminals.
But apparently, Don Lemon believes the real hard crime is in the suburbs.
“Those of us in the real world my age who have seen the marijuana, first it was very taboo now it’s accepting.” Lemon said. “I lived in the suburbs. There is a lot of drugs, a lot of marijuana in the disturbs, more than I see if urban areas… that’s what I see and a lot of kids who bought their pot were buying it from white kids in the suburbs. “
Another of Lemon’s guests, former New York district attorney Michael Bongiorno, refuted Lemon’s claims, stating that the reporter’s theory is incorrect. “Well, no, that is certainly not the case in New York,” Bongiorno said.
Despite the facts in the report, Lemon knows better. Apparently, the hard drug culture is festering in the suburbs, and propagated by white teenagers.