By Steve Elliott VIA www.tokeofthetown.com
Commissioner Kelly's memo makes it clear that displaying marijuana must be an "activity undertaken of the subject's own volition" and that people may not be charged with violating the law if the marijuana "was disclosed to public view at an officer's direction."
The internal order can be made permanent, and apply to all of New York State, through passage of the bipartisan bill A.7620-Jeffries/S.5187-Grisanti. This legislation would standardize penalties for marijuana possession offenses, protect New Yorkers from illegal searches, save taxpayer dollars, and bring down the disproportionately high number of arrests among black and Latino men for marijuana-related crimes by eliminating the misdemeanor charge.
Council Member Mark-Viverito introduced a City Council resolution that Council Member Williams is sponsoring that supports the passage of this legislation.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office is opposed to changing the law, reports Elizabeth A. Harris at The New York Times.
Mayoral aide Frank Barry in June said downgrading marijuana charges would "encourage smoking in the streets and in our parks, reversing successful efforts to clean up neighborhoods and eliminate the open-air drug markets like we used to find in Washington Square Park."
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