Butts, Jeffrey A. (2015). Racial Disparities in Juvenile Drug Arrests. Research and Evaluation Data Bits [2015-01]. New York, NY: Research and Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.

The most dramatic disparities were seen in arrests for drug sales and manufacturing. In 1980, drug sales arrests were somewhat more common among black youth than among white youth (42 vs. 23 per 100,000). By the end of the 1980s, however, black youth were arrested at a rate of nearly 300 per 100,000. Between 1980 and 1989, the rate of black arrests for drug selling grew 695 percent. By 2012, the rate had returned to the level of 1980 (46 per 100,000).