Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 9:110–135, 2011 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1537-7938 print / 1537-7946 online DOI: 10.1080/15377938.2011.566813 African Americans and the Marijuana Legalization Paradox: Do Race-Specific Murder Victimization Rates and Race-Specific Drug Arrest Rates Explain It? THEODORE E. THORNHILL Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts–Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Why is support for marijuana legalization among African Amer- icans notably modest given that such a policy would drastically reduce the number of African Americans arrested annually for nonviolent drug offenses? In this article I assess whether the urban frustration argument is an adequate explanation for Blacks’ gen- erally low levels of support for marijuana legalization. I analyzed merged Supplemental Homicide Report and Drug Arrest data and General Social Survey data to determine the extent to which race- specific murder victimization rates and race-specific drug arrest rates in U.S. cities are predictive of support for marijuana legaliza- tion among Blacks and Whites between 1990 and 2000. Findings indicate that Blacks’ level of support for marijuana legalization is greatest in those cities with the highest Black drug arrest rates. Consequently, these findings provide no support for the urban frus- tration argument. KEYTERMS Marijuana legalization, African Americans, urban frustration argument, drug arrests Submitted July 2010; resubmitted October 2010; accepted November 2010. I would like to thank Roland Chilton, Wenona Rymond-Richmond, and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. I would also like to thank the editor and the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. An earlier version of this article was presented at the March 2010 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Address correspondence to Theodore E. Thornhill, Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts–Amherst, Thompson Hall, Amherst, MA 01003. E-mail: thornhill@soc.umass. edu 110