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By the Numbers

15

The number of black people arrested for marijuana possession in Chicago for every one white person arrested

40

Number of black people who plead or are found guilty of marijuana possession for every white person in Chicago’s courts

2

Percent of all people who plead or were found guilty of low-level marijuana possession in 2009-10 in Chicago who were white (89 percent were black, 9 percent were Hispanic)

$55

The average street value of the marijuana found on offenders convicted for marijuana possession in Chicago in 2009-10

70,000

Third-country nationals working for the American military in war zones

2,000

Contractor fatalities reported in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001

51,000

Injuries to contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001

85

Percent of applicants accepted into Harvard in 1940

6

Percent of applicants accepted into Harvard in 2010

Source: The Reader, “The Grass Gap”; The New Yorker, “The Invisible Army”; The New Yorker, “Live and Learn”