New York City is one of more than 100 U.S. cities and towns that have legal marijuana. NYPD announced on Wednesday, Nov. 27, that it will be rolling out a new approach to fighting the new drug. The department said it’s launching a campaign to educate the public about the new laws and crack down on those who aren’t complying with them. As the department’s new top lawyer, Zachary Carter, explained, “We will no longer tolerate people flouting the law, and will not hesitate to arrest them.”
The state’s 1.4 million pot smokers were caught in the middle of a new police strategy recently announced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he seeks ways to combat the state’s marijuana legalization law. The strategy included reducing the number of people charged with crimes related to marijuana possession, amending laws to give police guidance on how they can enforce marijuana laws and speeding up the process for issuing permits for marijuana shops.
Since New York legalized medical marijuana in 2014, the police have had to adjust their strategies to prevent stoners from breaking the law. Instead of using the old “stop and frisk” tactic, the new strategy is to stop and ask questions.
The NYPD may soon lose its right to control cannabis.
Axel Bernabe, an adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s attorney general, told Prohibition Partners last week that he would recommend alternatives, such as employing social workers in coordination with the state’s nascent Cannabis Control Board, which will soon develop a framework for legalizing recreational marijuana. New York State recently voted to allow recreational use, and the board will decide on the details soon.
The interaction between law enforcement and drug-related people is an important part of the law, Bernabe said of the new state legislation, under which recreational drug sales are expected to take place in about a year. Bernabe thinks it’s a good idea to bring in social workers from other states to enforce the rules for legal and licensed cannabis businesses. He also asked who would address cannabis-related street crime, such as the sale of unlicensed marijuana on the black market.
Who deals with people on the street or people selling illegally? Bernabe said. Do we want the police to investigate this? Is this a new form of law enforcement?
New York’s reform dilemma is playing out across the United States, where local governments are beginning to consider criminal justice systems that disproportionately incarcerate black men for marijuana possession. These political decisions can determine the extent to which minorities, such as. B. Schwarze, work with the police.
Efforts to reform the way law enforcement deals with cannabis must also be balanced with the way it combats the illicit market, which often still involves criminal groups, and the sale of other drugs such as cocaine or heroin.
Cannabis use by minors is another issue that policymakers need to address. The fines are designed to discourage people under 21 from using marijuana. But Bernabe asks: Who is going to collect this fine?
According to the New York Police Department, the new marijuana laws have led to a drastic change in the enforcement of marijuana offenses. The spokesperson explained the main changes in the bill, but did not specifically comment on the idea of other agencies controlling cannabis. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency declined to comment.
Bernabe’s panelists included Emily Galvin Almanza, founder of Partners for Justice, an advocacy group that helps low-income people find their way through the justice system. She said the question now is whether to deploy social workers, mental health workers or community members trained in de-escalating confrontations.
According to Bernabe, some states use former law enforcement officers to monitor licensed cannabis operations, but experts increasingly agree that this is not the best solution.
They discovered it was best to call on human services, mental health professionals and former social workers. I thought it was a brilliant idea. This is something we will look at and recommend to the City Council, he said.
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