New York City Marijuana Arrests Fall 95% After Legalization

In New York, cannabis-related arrests have fallen to less than 90%. In the second quarter of 2021, New York City police recorded only eight cannabis-related arrests. Six of them for illegal possession of cannabis and the other two for illegal sale.

Current legislation states that adults over 21 now have the right to own no more than 3 ounces of adult cannabis. It also allows the sale of cannabis, but this has been suspended due to the delay in establishing the state cannabis regulatory council.

Cannabis-related arrests after legalization

The cannabis legislation was passed in March 2021 and signed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The state saw a gradual decline in the number of cannabis-related arrests made every day.

The arrests made under the legislation were filed under a relatively new legal category. The new section was drafted by the approved law and contains allegations such as unlawful possession as well as illegal sales.

The approved law only allows the possession of less than three ounces of cannabis for any adult citizen, just as it allows only licensed cannabis companies to act as cannabis suppliers and distributors within the state.

In 2019, Cuomo signed a measure decriminalizing marijuana possession. Law enforcement agencies worked on this bill from July 2019 until the Recreation Act was approved. The 2019 law states that anyone holding up to two ounces of adult weed will be fined and not arrested. Local residents were fined up to $ 200.

According to police, 163 arrests were made in the Big Apple from January until the bill was passed in March. The police arrested people for crossing the decriminalization line.

Court subpoenas related to cannabis have also reached single digits. Before the measure was approved in late March, there were around 3,700 summons before criminal courts in the city. These warrants are usually issued when residents try to evade their fines. Offenders must always respond to a subpoena.

A person who refuses to pay for a ticket to possess cannabis will be in greater trouble if they also fail to heed their subpoena, as courts have the right to issue arrest warrants to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Reasons for the rapid decline in cannabis-related arrests

Compared to any other state with pro-cannabis laws, New York saw the largest drop in arrests. The number of cases of cannabis possession, use, and sale in New York is the largest and fastest recorded in any approved state for adult use.

The fact that New York does much better than other states in this regard is attributed to the language of the measure allowing the public use of the drugs and the state’s effectiveness in getting the law up and running as quickly as possible.

The legislature has taken all factors into account in drafting the bill and the other actors – the police, the prosecutor and even the court – are pursuing the necessary reasons when they need to implement the new laws.

The main provision of the approved Recreation Act is that smoking rooms can now serve as a safe space for public cannabis use. Cannabis is also allowed in all rooms where cigarettes are allowed. This has helped gradually reduce the stigma of cannabis users.

The laws of other countries to legalize recreational activities leave no room for this. In some ways, their stance does little to suppress the stigma of cannabis users. Therefore, their police treat cannabis smokers trapped in such areas as delinquents.

The moment Cuomo passed the law, marijuana was decriminalized across the state. People could no longer be arrested unless they held more than three ounces of cannabis.

The New York City government learned from the way other states handled their cannabis laws. For example New Jersey. New Jersey legalized cannabis in November 2020, but implementation into enacted law was delayed by several months before lawmakers could reach an agreement with voters. This delay resulted in law enforcement agencies continuing to make large-scale arrests regardless of the amount of cannabis found on a resident.

Days after the Recreational Legalization Act was passed, all New York prosecutors went through all cannabis cases and records in the system, and offenders with charges or previous records now deemed legal under the new measure were dismissed. Previous records were also automatically deleted.

Is New York Keeping Its Racial Justice Promises?

Before cannabis was decriminalized in New York, at least 85% of the people arrested annually for cannabis offenses were black people. The blacks and Latinx experienced the worst.

The war on drugs in New York City and even in the rest of the United States discriminated against the People of Color and left their communities at a disadvantage. When it took aim at their men. Almost 90% of all arrests were young men in their early 30s or younger.

People have been arrested on absurd charges. Law enforcement had so much power and could arrest anyone just for suspecting them of selling cannabis. The police went after people of color, New Yorkers or not.

Now that the number of arrests is reduced and charges are automatically cleared under the approved laws, it is safe to say that New York is finally living up to its promises of racial justice.

While the new law may still potentially have a negative impact on Black and Latinx communities, it is better than the previous numbers. Biased law enforcement agencies must scrutinize suspects for extended periods of time before making arrests.

Young people of color can no longer be arrested for insignificant property.

Bottom line

The huge drop in arrests and subpoenas in New York is a huge achievement for the government. With over 8 million inhabitants, the state has the most populous city in the country. The effective implementation of the new law is a blueprint from which other states can learn.

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