I’m generally quick to point out that there aren’t too many people doing long time for small scale drug possession. (Usually this in the context of pointing out that drug decriminalization will not empty our prisons.) But it does happen. And it shouldn’t happen. Ever. How is anyone in prison for 13 years for possessing…
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I’m quoted in Vice Magazine’s article, “New York City’s Biggest Marijuana Problem Is the Police.” Of fuckety fuck. Do I really swear that much? And here’s another unrelated story about the corrosive effects of overtime.
The major final ordered the police commissioner to order the department to follow New York State and not arrest people for small-scale possession of marijuana. This has actually been the law since 1977. But the NYPD has subverted the law, especially in the past decade, by arresting people anyway. And we’re talking tens of thousand…
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As more and more states legalize marijuana, New York City still leads the world for arrests for possession of the evil weed. You might wonder who actually thinks it’s a good idea to arrest people for a decriminalized amount of marijuana. Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins: “If the current practice of making arrests for…
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Let’s play a game called “write the headline.” Here’s the story from the New York Times: According to the latest federal figures, which were part of an annual survey, Monitoring the Future…. The report looked at a wide variety of drugs and substances. It found, for example, that drinking was steadily declining, with roughly 40…
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“The years between 2000 and 2010 do not simply constitute a war on marijuana, but a war on black people who use marijuana.” Well said, Ta-Nehisi Coates.
My friend, Neill Franklin of LEAP, spells it out (and does so far better than I could have).
An officer, who heard over his radio that a drug suspect was armed with a gun, kicks down the door of his apartment, finds the suspect hiding in the bathroom (probably trying to flush weed down the toilet), thinks the suspect is going for his gun, and shoots and kills the suspect. The problem is…
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Two good posts from Zachary Goelman. One on the latest death caused by marijuana (prohibition). The other on the new jail in Brooklyn.
Andy Newman of the Timesreports: Low-level arrests for marijuana possession in New York City increased for the seventh straight year in 2011, according to a study released Wednesday — despite a September memorandum from the police commissioner that reminded officers to follow the letter of the law and not arrest people with marijuana unless they…
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