New York City Leaders May Stop Prosecuting Most Cannabis Offenses
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan could soon see a serious decline in prosecutions for cannabis charges, with announcements from the city’s mayor and district attorneys.
The district attorney’s offices have begun looking into halting prosecutions on such cases in an effort to resolve the concerns many have involving the notable racial gap in cannabis arrests. A halt in prosecuting cannabis charges would subdue the consequences of a law that disproportionately affects members of minority communities.
In 2014, Brooklyn’s district attorney stopped prosecuting low-level cases and now officials are hoping to expand upon this policy. May 5, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced that his office will stop prosecuting low level cannabis cases as well. Doing so could keep prosecution away from those who smoke outside without creating a public nuisance, so long as there is no previous criminal record. The Manhattan office has also jumped aboard this policy in hopes of expanding it in order to decrease the number of low-level cases that face prosecution. Based off of last year’s numbers of an estimated 5,000 people arrested on low-level cannabis charges in Manhattan, only 200 people at the maximum would have been prosecuted under the potential policy expansion.
While the press aides for both attorneys made no official comment on the current policy discussions, the city of New York can expect to see some exciting changes to the way in which the law handles and perceives cannabis consumption. Prosecutors in Manhattan have been working together with both the police department and City Hall to plan and prepare for the policy expansion.
New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio also recently shared that the New York City Police Department plans to “reform its policies related to marijuana enforcement in the next 30 days,” during a speech at a May 15 policy conference in Washington, D.C. Although the specific steps to be taken on the matter were not divulged, the mayor made it clear that the move would be to help end the racial gap seen in arrests. “We must and we will end unnecessary arrests and end disparity in enforcement,” he tweeted.
I’m announcing today that the NYPD will overhaul its marijuana enforcement policies in the next 30 days. We must end unnecessary arrests and end disparity in enforcement.
— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 15, 2018
