NEW YORK CITY'S MASSIVE MARIJUANA ARRESTS

New York City remains the marijuana arrest capital of the world,
according to an upcoming report by Queens College Professor Harry
Levine. In 1993, there were only 900 arrests for possession of small
amounts of marijuana, while 40,000 people were arrested in
2008--mostly young Black and Latino men. Dr. Levine calls this a
"marijuana arrest crusade." What's going on here?

Dr. Levine's new research builds on a report he co-authored last
year, and shows that beginning in the early 1990s, under then-Mayor
Rudy Giuliani, the New York City Police Department dramatically
increased arrests for possession of marijuana. Those arrests have
continued--and in fact increased--under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, even
though New York decriminalized possession of small amounts of
marijuana decades ago.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws, enacted in 1973, initially included long,
mandatory prison terms for drug offenses, including possessing small
amounts of marijuana. But in 1977, at the behest of district
attorneys and parent teacher organizations, the Legislature took the
right step and removed marijuana from the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Why?
Because many young white kids were being arrested for pot, and
neither parents nor the DAs wanted them saddled with criminal records
for an otherwise benign offense. New York thus became one of thirteen
states to decriminalize personal possession of marijuana.

Thus personal possession of 25 grams or less is now legally akin to
jaywalking or riding your bicycle on the sidewalk--an infraction, not
a criminal offense. Possessing or using "marijuana in public view"
remains a misdemeanor offense.

According to Dr. Levine, the vast majority of those arrested aren't
smoking in public at all. Instead, the marijuana is uncovered as
part of the NYPD's massive stop-and-frisk program, which
overwhelmingly targets Black and Latino men. What happens, according
to Dr Levine and the hundreds of arrestees and defense attorneys he
has interviewed, is that the police tell someone to empty their
pockets, and once that person pulls out a small amount of marijuana,
they are thus charged with "marijuana in public view."

In this way, the NYPD has arrested tens of thousands of New Yorkers
every year for possessing small amounts of marijuana. These arrests
are expensive, costing nearly $90 million a year. And there are other
costs: an arrest record can result in severe collateral consequences,
like loss of employment, or the chance at a college
scholarship. Spending the night in one of the City's overcrowded
holding pens or in Riker's can itself be traumatic.

The most alarming component of these arrests, however, are the racial
disparities. Nearly 90% of all those arrested for possession of
marijuana are Black and Latino. Whites comprise 35% of the City
population, but make up less than 10% of all those arrested for
possession of marijuana. These disparities are not indicators of who
uses marijuana--over 1/3 of all adults U.S. have tried marijuana, and
anyone on a casual weekend stroll through the Upper West Side or
Prospect Park will find a number of white people puffing away.

With the City primary elections just weeks away, one wonders where
candidates for public office stand on this issue. Are mass arrests of
young Black and Latino men for something the Legislature
decriminalized in 1977 a prudent use of taxpayer dollars? If the
arrests are thought to serve broader public safety goals, what are
they? Are the arrests achieving them? Are massive racial disparities
acceptable in service of such goals? Acceptable to whom? The
candidates should be asked - and answer - these important questions.

Like President Obama, Mayor Bloomberg has admitted to smoking
marijuana-- and even told reporters in his 2001 campaign that he
"liked it." He's not alone--hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers
regularly smoke marijuana, and millions more have tried it. So after
decriminalization, why is New York City the marijuana capital of the
world? Dr. Levine's research tries to answer that question, but it's
our elected officials who should provide us with answers.