NEW YORK — Councilman Rory Lancman (D) has asked New York's 5 district attorneys to stop prosecuting people for marijuana misdemeanors, according to The New York Daily News.
Lancman, who is also the leader of the New York City Council Justice Committee, made the announcement on Monday and is also requesting that prosecutors drop all misdemeanor marijuana charges for public consumption down to citations automatically.
Lancman cited the enormous racial disparities in marijuana arrests in the city, noting that the NYPD has proven that they are unwilling to end their practice of indiscriminately arresting Black people, calling the situation intolerable. The NYPD does arrest Black people in Manhattan at 15 times the rate of Caucasians for marijuana possession.
New York Mayor Decriminalized Weed in 2014
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned on decriminalizing marijuana as a social justice issue and did decriminalize the drug back in 2014 by directing officers to pull back on pot arrests, and they did. Marijuana arrests in the city decreased 40 percent the following year. Unfortunately, 86 percent of the people they did arrest were Black and Latino.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill says that he doesn't know why the disparity exists.
Prosecutors from both Brooklyn and Manhattan have declined to either prosecute most minor misdemeanors or have altered sentencing guidelines, following the model of other cities that have also dropped charges or changed sentencing guidelines for marijuana possession as a means of social justice.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón is automatically expunging misdemeanor cases going back to the 1970's. In 2011, almost 50 percent of the people arrested for marijuana possession in San Francisco were Black. Gascón is also evaluating felony convictions and will reduce or expunge charges accordingly.
Seattle District Attorney Pete Holmes is also expunging hundreds of convictions and requested that the Seattle Municipal Court dismiss all misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said that her office is attempting to correct the wrong that the failed war on drugs has done to the Black community.
Councilman Lancman says that people who were found in possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana who were not publicly consuming the drug should have all charges against them thrown out automatically. Mayor de Blasio stated on Tuesday that the NYPD will be reforming its policies in the next 30 days.
