Cuomo Pushes for Reform of Marijuana Arrests

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Timshel

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Cuomo is stating this will be a priority. This action will do alot to stop crime by not creating criminals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabriel-sayegh/governor-cuomo-marijuana-reform_b_2443694.html

In his State of the State address on Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a passionate call to reform New York's marijuana possession laws in order to reduce the enormous number of unlawful, biased, and costly arrests. The governor noted the discrepancy in the law between public and private possession of marijuana, and proposed standardizing the penalties for possession of small amounts. After citing the harmful outcomes of these arrests -- like racial disparities, stigma from criminalization, and fiscal waste -- the governor made a forceful call for immediate reform: "It's not fair, it's not right. It must end, and it must end now."

Possession of marijuana is the leading arrest in New York City today -- but it's not supposed to be this way. In 1977, New York State removed criminal penalties for private possession of marijuana, and made possession in public view a misdemeanor. The 1977 Legislature made its intent clear:

The legislature finds that arrests, criminal prosecutions, and criminal penalties are inappropriate for people who possess small quantities of marihuana (sic) for personal use. Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and wastes millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime.
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Despite -- or in spite of -- the legislative intent, more than 600,000 people have been arrested for marijuana possession during the last 15 years in New York. Most of these arrest occur in the Big Apple: more than 50,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession in 2011 alone. Most of these arrests are unconstitutional -- people possessing marijuana in their pocket or bag are instead charged and arrested for possession in public view. Nearly 85 percent of those arrested are black and Latino, mostly young men, even though government data shows that young whites use marijuana at higher rates. This creates, essentially, a two-tier legal system where the law is applied differently to different groups of people depending on their race. As if the human costs weren't already bad enough, this practice costs taxpayers at least $75 million a year. It's a classic case of drug war insanity.
 
The problem is that he will face the same crap that we are in CO. State allows Medical MJ dispensaries and the Obama admin comes in with its stormtroopers and threatens to jail all them evilz criminals.

While I agree with Cuomo that it will help, we have to get the Feds to change their moronic stance on MJ
 
Superfreak said:
The problem is that he will face the same crap that we are in CO. State allows Medical MJ dispensaries and the Obama admin comes in with its stormtroopers and threatens to jail all them evilz criminals.

While I agree with Cuomo that it will help, we have to get the Feds to change their moronic stance on MJ
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I agree, I think this is one of several areas where he blew a chance to do great things.
 
Superfreak said:
The problem is that he will face the same crap that we are in CO. State allows Medical MJ dispensaries and the Obama admin comes in with its stormtroopers and threatens to jail all them evilz criminals.

While I agree with Cuomo that it will help, we have to get the Feds to change their moronic stance on MJ
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First off, that does not apply here. What Cuomo is trying to do is remove the stigma of a criminal charge of marijuana.

You know, the battle here is not just about the partisan bullshit?

These drug laws destroy lives by putting a criminal mark on young people that diminishes there ability to move forward. Cuomo is seeking to remove that by stopping the criminalization. It has the same impact as the bill Arnold signed in California. It will reduce crime immediately and in the future.
 
SuperstringTheory said:
First off, that does not apply here. What Cuomo is trying to do is remove the stigma of a criminal charge of marijuana.
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Yes and that is the SAME thing that was done in CO. We made it legal. Hence, no criminal charges from the state to have it. But what I stated does apply to the situation there. The feds are still a problem.

You know, the battle here is not just about the partisan bullshit?

These drug laws destroy lives by putting a criminal mark on young people that diminishes there ability to move forward. Cuomo is seeking to remove that by stopping the criminalization. It has the same impact as the bill Arnold signed in California. It will reduce crime immediately and in the future.
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and again, I applaud what he is doing. Sorry that I pointed out that decriminalizing it in NY is not going to change the fact they can still get busted by the feds.

Given Obama's track record the last two years, he seems to want to target those that are in the open.
 
cuomos issue is the NYPD and its tactics. possession of a small amount is only a ticket. publicly displaying it gets someone arrested, so NYPD tells people to pull it out of their pocket........and handcuffs go on.
 
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Superfreak said:
The problem is that he will face the same crap that we are in CO. State allows Medical MJ dispensaries and the Obama admin comes in with its stormtroopers and threatens to jail all them evilz criminals.

While I agree with Cuomo that it will help, we have to get the Feds to change their moronic stance on MJ
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I think the Feds have no choice at this point. We're not talking about a single state or isolated referendum anymore - there is overwhelming popular movement toward legalizing medical pot at the very LEAST, and reforming marijuana policy in general.

Obama hinted as much in an post-election interview, saying that the Feds had much more important things to worry about & that this would be addressed. It's easy to read between the lines on this. As much as they're making from big phrarma, it simply isn't enough to risk losing votes by opposing the popular tide.
 
Thing1 said:
I think the Feds have no choice at this point. We're not talking about a single state or isolated referendum anymore - there is overwhelming popular movement toward legalizing medical pot at the very LEAST, and reforming marijuana policy in general.

Obama hinted as much in an post-election interview, saying that the Feds had much more important things to worry about & that this would be addressed. It's easy to read between the lines on this. As much as they're making from big phrarma, it simply isn't enough to risk losing votes by opposing the popular tide.
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lmao.....reading between the lines is what causes you to mis-interpret, mis-state and mis-understand what the actual lines say.....you see what you want and not is meant...........
 
bravo said:
lmao.....reading between the lines is what causes you to mis-interpret, mis-state and mis-understand what the actual lines say.....you see what you want and not is meant...........
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Hmmm, this seems to happen a lot to you, I don't think it is us, I think it is you.
 
bravo said:
lmao.....reading between the lines is what causes you to mis-interpret, mis-state and mis-understand what the actual lines say.....you see what you want and not is meant...........
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I'm hardly praising Obama by pointing out that he will do what is politically expedient, knee-jerker.

You should stick to your "hypocrisy" threads about 'Morning Joe.'
 
Thing1 said:
I'm hardly praising Obama by pointing out that he will do what is politically expedient, knee-jerker.

You should stick to your "hypocrisy" threads about 'Morning Joe.'
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Really ?.....I NEVER MADE A THREAD ABOUT MORNING JOE ABOUT HYPOCRISY OR ANYTHING ELSE.....

Thanks for proving my point about your inability to read.
 
Sweet another democrat against retarded weed arrests!
Sure wish some conservatards wanted to serious curtain gov wistful spending!
 
Thing1 said:
I think the Feds have no choice at this point. We're not talking about a single state or isolated referendum anymore - there is overwhelming popular movement toward legalizing medical pot at the very LEAST, and reforming marijuana policy in general.

Obama hinted as much in an post-election interview, saying that the Feds had much more important things to worry about & that this would be addressed. It's easy to read between the lines on this. As much as they're making from big phrarma, it simply isn't enough to risk losing votes by opposing the popular tide.
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that was the attitude he had the first two years in office as well. Granted, he had a couple other things on his plate at the time. I hope you are correct and I hope he is serious this time around.
 
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