Pubdate: Mon, 10 Nov 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Page: A4
Note: New York Times

MARIJUANA POSSESSION MIGHT LEAD TO SUMMONS, NOT ARREST

The New York Police Department, which has been arresting tens of 
thousands of people a year for low-level marijuana possession, is 
poised to stop making such arrests and to issue tickets instead, 
according to law enforcement officials.

People found with small amounts of marijuana would be issued court 
summonses and be allowed to continue on their way without being 
handcuffed and taken to station houses for fingerprinting.

The change would remake the way city police handle the most common 
drug offenses and represents Mayor Bill de Blasio's most significant 
effort since taking office to address the enduring effects of the 
department's stop-and-frisk practices.

Curbing arrests for small-scale marijuana possession has become a 
cause for criminal justice reform advocates, and this year the new 
Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth Thompson, said he would stop 
prosecuting such cases. But his announcement did not go over well 
with de Blasio and his police commissioner, William J. Bratton, who 
vowed to continue making low-level marijuana arrests.

Now the de Blasio administration is publicly embracing the notion 
that such small-scale possession merits different treatment. And with 
the changes, City Hall is moving to retake control of a politically 
potent issue that has enormous resonance in black and Latino 
communities, where the vast majority of small-scale marijuana arrests 
have taken place.

Many details of the changes planned by the de Blasio administration 
are still being discussed. A clearer picture is expected to emerge this week.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom