Major win for marijuana smokers in New York
Manhattan, New York, USA, May 03 2014 – Hundreds of Peoples participated today on the annual NYC Cannabis Parade in support of the legalization of the herb.
On the Photo: Parade participants
Credit: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
Mayor de Blasio:
Too many New Yorkers without any prior convictions have been arrested for low-level marijuana possession. Black and Latino communities have been disproportionately affected. There have been, in some cases, disastrous consequences for individuals and families. When an individual is arrested, even for the smallest possession of marijuana, it hurts their changes to get a good job, it hurts their chances to get housing, it hurts their chances to qualify for a student loan – it can literally follow them the rest of their lives, and saddle young people with challenges that for many are very, very difficult to overcome. This is obviously not our intention. Our intention is to help all New Yorkers, particularly get our young people on the right track, and avoid these unnecessary consequences.
As you heard from the commissioner, effective a week from this coming Wednesday on November 19th, there’ll be new guidelines for our police officers. And that is for situations in which a person possesses less than 25 grams of marijuana. The officer will have the opportunity to issue a summons charging a violation rather than an arrest.
Break the marijuana rules and you will get arrested marijuana..
Manhattan, New York, USA, May 03 2014 – Hundreds of Peoples participated today on the annual NYC Cannabis Parade in support of the legalization of the herb.
On the Photo: Parade participants
Credit: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
Commissioner Bratton: We’ll see over time if that changes, but what I point out is the chart to my far left showing 9-1-1 calls and 3-1-1 calls. A lot of our activity – enforcement activity – is in response to citizens calling about somebody smoking dope or dealing dope in my hallway, public housing development, street corner. And, the vast, vast, vast majority of those calls are to the city’s poor neighborhoods, the minority neighborhoods. So, part of our attention is focused by citizens themselves, asking us to do something about deterioration of quality of life in their neighborhoods. I would point out that ironically – that by issuing summonses, some of the ability to track – in terms of who is being arrested by race, ethnicity – will now lost because the state summons form does not have a block for identifying race or ethnicity – something that would probably be appropriate to change because the irony is – what’s the expression – “No good deed goes unpunished?” As we issue more summonses, we’ll have less delineation of who are summonses are being issued to. However, we will still have our best statistics, which will be a very accurate barometer going forward – with the percentage of those being arrested from the minority communities.
Mayor: Just want to jump in – just one quick second. I think, look, to the question – I think the fact that you will see fewer unnecessary arrests, will be good for New York City as a whole. It will certainly be good for New Yorkers of color and particularly young people of color. There’s no question about that. We’ll see how the numbers come out over time, but there’s no question in mind there will be a very substantial impact. And for a lot of young people, it means they will not have this reality holding them back. A summons is not going to affect their future, an arrest could. And we want to avoid that unnecessary burden.
Manhattan, New York, USA, May 03 2014 – Hundreds of Peoples participated today on the annual NYC Cannabis Parade in support of the legalization of the herb.
On the Photo: Parade participants and Pie Man Aron Kay
Credit: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
Mayor de Blasio:
Today’s announcement is consistent with his desire to keep making the work of the NYPD stronger. And I want to thank him for that commitment. We share a vision that says when our police and communities grow closer together, we will fight crime even more effectively. Much more information will flow to our police officers so they can do their job even better. This is part of a long-term effort, not only to create a unity between police and community for its own sake, but to make us safer in the process.
To do that, we have to keep thinking of ways to do things better. We have to keep thinking of ways to address real concerns that community residents have, and getting away from these unproductive arrests is an example of that. It’s part of how we will remain the safest big city in the nation – it’s part of how we will get safer still.
Source: EuropaNewswire and The Office of Mayor de Blasio