GOV. Cuomo plans to ask lawmakers Monday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot in a move to reduce stop-and-frisk arrests. “This proposal will bring long overdue consistency and fairness to New York State’s Penal Law and save thousands of New Yorkers, particularly minority youth, from the unnecessary and life-altering trauma of a criminal arrest and, in some cases, prosecution.” Click below to read the rest of the story.
The NYPD made 50,684 arrests last year for possession of a small amount of marijuana, more than for any other offense, according to an analysis of state data by Harry Levine, a sociologist at Queens College.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly last fall ordered officers not to arrest suspects who were stopped and found to have small amounts of marijuana in their pockets.
