Chicago's War on Blacks: marijuana is used at similar rates across racial groups, African-Americans accounted for 78 percent of those arrested, 89 percent of those convicted, and 92 percent of those jailed for low-level possession.

Chicago Reader reports on racism in Chicago:

Last summer the Chicago City Council passed a law that allowed police to issue tickets instead of booking and locking up marijuana possessors. Supporters said it would reduce costs and keep low-level users out of the criminal justice system. "This is just a no-brainer," Alderman Danny Solis, the chief sponsor, said at the time. But the law hasn't worked the way Solis hoped. Police have concluded that the ticketing process is a pain in the butt and doesn't send a strong enough message in tough neighborhoods. So they rarely use it, issuing just 17 citations a week citywide. Meanwhile, the arrests keep coming. In the ten months since the law was passed, police have made more than 12,000 arrests for misdemeanor possession, 76 percent of them in black wards, according to police data. That's an average of 281 arrests a week, or more than 40 a day. They've consumed 97,000 police hours and at least $30.2 million in court costs. Police officials say they enforce the laws to protect public safety. Solis says he'd like some more answers. He promises to hold a hearing in the coming weeks to revisit the issue with police superintendent Garry McCarthy.

How many Uncle Toms are on Chicago's City Council?