Listen to the podcast to hear what New Hanover County public defender Jennifer Harjo has to say about Wilmington’s marijuana enforcement practices.
Unsure about North Carolina’s changing marijuana laws and whether you can still get into trouble? You’re not alone. Shoresides received several questions about it. That’s why we’re analyzing police records to uncover who’s still being penalized for marijuana possession and why.
In May, the federal government advanced a measure that’d remove marijuana from the most restricted drugs list. But in North Carolina, the situation is more complex. Small amounts of recreational marijuana have been decriminalized for decades, making it quasi-legal to carry a half-ounce or less and pay a $200 fine. Police officers have the option to issue citations for larger quantities. Additionally, Hemp stores in North Carolina now openly sell “hemp” products containing small and legal amounts of Delta 9 THC, and there’s an ongoing effort–Senate Bill 711– to legalize marijuana here for medical use.
Despite the progress, marijuana enforcement remains a concern for community members, particularly in cities like Wilmington, where officers file several hundred marijuana charges per year.
Public records obtained by Shoresides show that from 2016 to 2023, the Wilmington Police Department (WPD) filed over 5,000 marijuana charges, with roughly 84 percent filed as misdemeanors and the majority– 70 percent–for minor marijuana infractions like possession of more than a half ounce or paraphernalia, according to a Shoresides analysis.
*The first graph shows the racial breakdown for marijuana citations in Wilmington from 2016 to 2023 and the second for arrests.
W – White
B – Black or African American
H – Hispanic or Latino
I – American Indian or Alaskan Native
A – Asian or Pacific Islander
O -Other
U-Unidentified
“In North Carolina marijuana possession is still illegal,” Lieutenant Willet Greg, a spokesperson for the department told Shoresides in an email. “Is it a priority or something we are focusing resources on? No it is not, social norms change and over time the laws enacted by the legislative branch of government typically catch up with those norms.”
All of the infractions turned over to Shoresides through our public records request involved amounts of marijuana that were equal to or in excess of a half-ounce. But that doesn’t mean the department has ceased penalizing people for carrying less, Willet explained. Data related to those charges aren’t readily accessible. “In order to find data for anyone charged with below a half ounce of marijuana it would require our one analyst to go through every marijuana arrest within those years. That is due to the way the law is written regarding amounts of marijuana and how the data is retained within our records system,” he said. “I’m sure there are people that have been charged with that amount.”
In October 2016, a 12-year-old identified in a police report as an African-American male was arrested for marijuana possession and paraphernalia at Williston Middle School. (Paraphernalia might be anything from a plastic baggie to a glass pipe.) In July 2023, a 33-year-old identified in a police report as a white female employed by John Metts Insurance, was arrested on roughly the same charges at a local hotel.
Port cities like Wilmington have reputations as party hubs, attracting tourists, retirees and others looking to have fun, likely making cannabis use ubiquitous across all demographics. Most Americans after all–nine out of ten–believe cannabis should be legal for recreational and medical use. Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo has called marijuana charges a “waste of jail space and court time.”
Disturbingly, though, the data reveals a pernicious problem, one that seems to come up everywhere pot remains illegal: a racial disparity in enforcement. In Wilmington, Blacks represented 64% of those arrested despite comprising only 16% of the city’s population. Per capita, Blacks were five times more likely to be cited for a cannabis violation than Whites and eight times more likely to be arrested for it.
According to Shoresides’ analysis, the majority of those penalized for marijuana by the Wilmington Police Department (WPD) were younger rather than older, and perhaps traveling. The average age of those penalized was 29. Additionally, a map we generated detailing marijuana infraction locations over a three-year period showed that individuals were most likely to encounter police on busy Wilmington thoroughfares, such as South College Road, 17th Street, Market Street, North Front Street, and Carolina Beach Road. Enforcement appeared heavier in historically Black neighborhoods and in downtown areas.
Marijuana arrests and convictions can lead to job loss, housing instability and other challenges that make it harder for individuals and families to build strong communities. Over the course of a six-month investigative project, Shoresides will continue to explore how marijuana enforcement impacts coastal North Carolinians and strive to offer guidance on navigating and avoiding entanglement in the criminal justice system for marijuana-related offenses.
