Have you been busted for weed lately? Are you, by any chance, not of the Caucasian persuasion? A new study reveals that, in the last ten years, police made nearly 400,000 busts for marijuana possession in New York City, making us the world leader in marijuana arrests. Also, most of the arrestees have been African-American.

The study, by Queens College sociologist Harry Levin (not to be mistaken for TMZ mastermind Harvey Levin, though we suppose he is kind of a sociologist, in a way), accused police of purposely singling out minorities during the decade-long crackdown, with 52 percent of the suspects being black, 31 percent Hispanic, and only 15 percent white. According to the New York Sun, Levin claims that cops routinely “manufacture” arrests for possession in public view by stopping young black men on the street and impelling them to empty their pockets.

The study reports that arrests for marijuana possession began skyrocketing in the late nineties, during the Giuliani administration — a trend that continued under Mayor Bloomberg at an estimated cost of between $50 and $90 million a year (which, by the way, could buy a lot of weed).

Naturally, the NYPD accuses the study of being misleading and “absurdly” inflating numbers. But, just to be safe, you should probably stop carrying pot on your person and stop being black. We highly recommend sitting at home alone and abusing Adderall, enjoying in privacy one’s own neuroses, preferably while sobbing.

NYCLU: City Is World’s ‘Marijuana Arrest Capital’ [NYS]