What Happened
With a strong push from the governor, New York City Mayor Bloomberg and the city’s police agreed to an initiative that would punish individuals who possess 25 grams or less of marijuana in public with just a $100 fine, rather than arrest.
In 2011, the city made more than 50,000 arrests of this nature, costing the city an estimated $500 million.
Why Change?
Gov1 has written previously in an article New Haven, Conn., and it’s work with Justice Reinvestment—a project of the Council of State Governments—to reform marijuana possession. The groups concluded that the economic and social arguments for decriminalization far outweighed criminal aspects of possesion; the burdens on prisons, budgets and and a skewed segment of the population were no longer acceptable. Mayor Bloomberg sees this as an opportunity to stop wasting police resources on unnecessary arrests.
Implementation
Currently, possession of marijuana considered is a violation if the drug is being carried, but a misdemeanor if seen or smoked in public view. As part of the city’s stop-and-frisk practice carried out by police, many arrests were for carrying the drug. Under the proposed change, whether a person is carrying or using in public view, a fine of $100 will be imposed for a first-time offenders.
Learn More
The proposal will go to the New York State Legislature; it remains unclear whether the law will be passed. Additional coverage from The New York Times is available.
Perhaps not coincidentally, last week, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy signed into law the ability for the state to sanction production, distribution and use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes. You can read the full Act here; it goes into effect in October, 2012.
To learn how other cities are handling marijuana possession, smoking and taxation as part of medical marijuana initiatives, here are some resources: