The district attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn are weighing plans to stop prosecuting the vast majority of people arrested on marijuana charges, potentially curbing the consequences of a law that in New York City is enforced most heavily against black and Hispanic people. The Brooklyn district attorney's office, which in 2014 decided to stop prosecuting many low-level marijuana cases, is considering expanding its policy so that more people currently subject to arrest on marijuana charges, including those who smoke outside without creating a public nuisance, would not be prosecuted, one official familiar with the discussions said. [continues 1661 words]
If you've walked around New York City lately, there's a good chance you've smelled weed. People smoke walking their dogs in the West Village, and they smoke in apartment building lobbies in the South Bronx. They smoke outside bars and restaurants and in the park. White people largely don't get arrested for it. Black and Hispanic people do, despite survey after survey saying people of most races smoke at similar rates. So after a senior police official recently testified to the City Council that there was a simple justification - he said more people call 911 and 311 to complain about marijuana smoke in black and Hispanic neighborhoods - we decided to dig into the numbers the New York Police Department gave lawmakers to support that claim. [continues 689 words]
After years of halting steps, top prosecutors and elected officials in New York City on Tuesday made a sudden dash toward ending many of the marijuana arrests that for decades have entangled mostly black and Hispanic people. The plans, still unwritten and under negotiation, will rise or fall on the type of conduct involving marijuana that officials decide should still warrant arrest and prosecution. The changes appear likely to create a patchwork of prosecution policies across the city's five boroughs, and are unlikely to restrict police officers from stopping and searching people on suspicion of possessing a drug that is now legal in a number of states. [continues 1001 words]
They sit in courtroom pews, almost all of them young black men, waiting their turn before a New York City judge to face a charge that no longer exists in some states: possessing marijuana. They tell of smoking in a housing project hallway, or of being in a car with a friend who was smoking, or of lighting up a Black & Mild cigar the police mistake for a blunt. There are many ways to be arrested on marijuana charges, but one pattern has remained true through years of piecemeal policy changes in New York: The primary targets are black and Hispanic people. [continues 1833 words]
The end of such a long process was oddly anticlimactic. La Plata County commissioners approved new medical and recreational marijuana regulations Tuesday. The new code adds new land-use rules for marijuana shops, licensing and fees for medical and recreational pot sales in the county. The room, filled with interested spectators, barely reacted to a series of unanimous approvals on all things marijuana-related. Commissioners approved a new land-use code regarding marijuana establishments during their planning meeting and approved new licensing rules in their business meeting that followed. Marijuana facilities will be treated as Class II commercial buildings requiring a review process, a compatibility analysis and possibly a neighborhood meeting. [continues 493 words]
Public Critiques City's Proposed Regulations for Retail Marijuana The Durango City Council's public hearing on recreational marijuana sparked a blaze of comment but ended up smoldering into inaction. After an hour of comment Tuesday night criticizing the ordinance and the city's approach, councilors decided they needed another study session to work through issues with the current draft ordinance on regulating retail pot shops. The council also held a hearing on updating the medical marijuana regulations to flow with the retail pot rules. [continues 457 words]
Everything From Zoning, Morals to Be Considered There's a lot to weed through when talking about pot. Discussions may reach new highs Tuesday when the city of Durango and La Plata County holds public hearings on draft retail-marijuana regulations and revised medical marijuana code. The county hearing is scheduled after a 10 a.m. planning meeting. The city will hold its hearing during its 6:30 p.m. meeting. The City Council meeting will be streamed live at durangoherald.com. [continues 426 words]
Ten minutes before intravenous drug users began walking through the door of the Allegheny County Health Department building in Oakland on a recent Sunday, Ron Johnson of Prevention Point Pittsburgh was arranging syringes. "Browns," the biggest needles, sat next to "pogos." Nearby were cotton balls, alcohol wipes, cookers, where drugs are dissolved, and tourniquets, which ease vein access. By the end of the day, 65 users had visited Prevention Point Pittsburgh to exchange their dirty syringes for clean ones. PPP, the only needle exchange program in Western Pennsylvania, works to reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C by giving addicts clean needles to use in place of shared, dirty ones. [continues 1741 words]
First, I have never, nor do I intend to, smoke marijuana for any reason. I agree with Kraige Kinney 100 percent to vote on Jan. 3 to make Eagle a better place. But I would ask that the Eagle citizens vote "yes" in order to do so. I attended the marijuana panel held on Dec. 12, and I understood Eagle County Undersheriff Mr. McWilliams say that if the marijuana is grown in grow facilities this is safer for residential neighborhoods because there are no illegal and unsafe rigging setups in houses. [continues 141 words]
Re: Rafe Arnott's story Stats reflect cops make dent in crime, Page 1, Tuesday's edition of the Abbotsford-Mission Times: Rick Lucy, deputy chief of Abbotsford Police Department, must be living in a vacuumed bubble to make this statement. He is ignoring the fact that the legal Insite stations, where the druggies get all their free drugs and free needles, no longer need to break into vehicles and homes to receive enough money to buy their drugs. [continues 299 words]
"We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." That statement could easily come from any Christian prayer book. But many people would be surprised to find out that it's actually from one of the most popular self-help methods in North America. But ask almost any alcoholic or sober alcoholic and they'd probably recognize that quote as step three in the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program. [continues 1351 words]
To the editor: Access to marijuana is a controversial subject in our state. In our last election some 45 percent of the voters agreed with complete legalization. But what is not controversial in Alaska is our love of privacy and our constitutional right to the same. It is a right that has been defended by our Supreme Court. However, this very basic human right to a private home is being threatened in the 24th session of the Alaska Legislature now in session. House Bill 96 and Senate B ill 74, introduced by Gov. Frank Murkowski, will, if enacted by the Legislature, make it "illegal to possess any amount of marijuana anywhere in this state" and find that "a person commits the crime of misconduct in the sixth degree if the person refuses entry into a premise for an inspection ..." I think these bills take Alaska in the wrong direction. Please contact your legislators to protect your rights. Michael H. Mueller Fairbanks [end]
A top North Carolina basketball signee is in big trouble. [NAME DELETED] -a 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Mebane, N.C.-was among 49 students targeted in an early morning drug bust yesterday. "He was arrested about 8:30 this morning at Eastern Alamance High School," Public Information Officer Randy Jones of the Alamance County Sheriff's Office said. "He's facing six felony counts total: Two counts with possession and intent to sell and deliver marijuana; two counts of sale and delivery of marijuana; and two counts of sale and delivery of controlled substances on school grounds." [continues 303 words]
Pot paradise or bust bonanza? That question will be answered at noon today as an estimated 60,000 marijuana supporters take to Boston Common for a pro-legalization rally under the watchful eyes of the Boston police. Trying to prevent the kind of mass inhaling that characterized the annual "Freedom Rally" in its previous eight years, authorities yesterday issued the latest in a string of warnings to keep the event cannabis-free. "If people smoke pot, we'll definitely make it a memorable experience for them," said Sgt. Detective Margot Hill, a police spokeswoman. "We respect the right to assemble and the right to free speech, but not the right to break the law." [continues 251 words]
