Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
New York spends $75 million a year to lock up people caught with marijuana, a new study says, even though it's not technically a crime.
The report by the Drug Policy Alliance says the NYPD spends that much on 50,000 annual pot arrests, in which 86% of those arrested are black or Latino.
State law requires people carrying small amounts of pot to receive the equivalent of a traffic ticket, but critics say the NYPD arrests and jails them anyway - hurting their job and life prospects.
"It stays on your record permanently," Bronx resident Alfredo Carrasquillo, 27, said at a City Hall news conference. "When they ask you if you've ever been arrested, you have to say yes."
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the marijuana arrests at a budget hearing later, telling Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito that police tactics and strategies have kept crime down even if she doesn't like them.
"If you think the law is not written correctly, then you should petition the state Legislature to change it," he told her. "The law clearly says if you have marijuana in public view, you should be arrested. It's a misdemeanor."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: NYDailyNews.com
Author: Adam Lisberg
Copyright: 2011 NYDailyNews.com
Contact: Contact us - NY Daily News
Website: New York spends $75 million a year on marijuana arrests though it's not technically a crime
The report by the Drug Policy Alliance says the NYPD spends that much on 50,000 annual pot arrests, in which 86% of those arrested are black or Latino.
State law requires people carrying small amounts of pot to receive the equivalent of a traffic ticket, but critics say the NYPD arrests and jails them anyway - hurting their job and life prospects.
"It stays on your record permanently," Bronx resident Alfredo Carrasquillo, 27, said at a City Hall news conference. "When they ask you if you've ever been arrested, you have to say yes."
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the marijuana arrests at a budget hearing later, telling Harlem Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito that police tactics and strategies have kept crime down even if she doesn't like them.
"If you think the law is not written correctly, then you should petition the state Legislature to change it," he told her. "The law clearly says if you have marijuana in public view, you should be arrested. It's a misdemeanor."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: NYDailyNews.com
Author: Adam Lisberg
Copyright: 2011 NYDailyNews.com
Contact: Contact us - NY Daily News
Website: New York spends $75 million a year on marijuana arrests though it's not technically a crime
