Marijuana Possession Is The Number One Reason For Arrest In New York City

The NYPD has been unkind to the possessors of 'kind bud'.

Marijuana possession was the top reason for arrests in New York city in 2010, according to a report by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services, that was obtained by the Drug Policy Alliance advocacy group.

An astounding 50,383 people were arrested for having marijuana in 2010. That makes up about 15 percent of all arrests in the city.

Since Mayor Bloomberg took over the reigns of the city in 2002, there have been 350,000 people arrested for marijuana possession, according to a statement released by the alliance.

The statement also noted that 86 percent of those arrested since 2002 were African-American or Latino and 70 percent were under 30 years old, despite the fact that "research consistently shows that young whites use marijuana at higher rates," according to the statement.

From City Room:

The arrests have been increasing steadily for the past six years, and the latest figures show a 69 percent increase from the 29,752 marijuana arrests recorded in 2005, data shows. The total is also up 8 percent from 2009, when there were 46,487 arrests, the data shows. The increase, says the policy alliance, which advocates for the reform of marijuana laws, is due not to increasing consumption, but to harsher enforcement.

"Over the last 20 years, N.Y.P.D. has quietly made arrests for marijuana their top enforcement priority, without public acknowledgment or debate," the alliance said.

Comments

[WeAreUnstoppable]

05:30 AM on 03/13/2011

Marijuana should not be illegal for one, second this is already straining our already over crowded prison systems. The United States home of the "free," represents 5 percent of the worlds population, but holds over 25 percent of the prison pop. across the globe. That's roughly 2,500,000 prisoners. We spend on average $30,000 a year to house ONE inmate. 2/3 of which are held under drug related offenses, most of which are non-violent. If you rape, murder or steal then you still qualify for grants and loans for school, however if your under drug related offenses you do not. This almost doesn't make any sense, until you see that their are private prisons which lobby congress to make drug related offense penalties horrifically long for an extremely minor "crime". Pharmaceutical companies last year conservatively spent 182 million dollars lobbying congress, this of course cannot be matched by the general public without an informed unified front. It always doesn't help when these companies throw money at their own controlled news outlets i.e. fox news. Dividing the country along what should be simple social economic issues of the day. Their blurring the line of freedom and business freedom. This will balance our budget and reduce crime in Mexico by 90 percent. If we release those 2/3 prisoners we would automatically in the first year save 49 billion dollars. Growing our own marijuana hundreds of billions in revenue. O btw nobody has ever died from marijuana!

[Shane Shipman]

09:54 AM on 02/16/2011

And this would be why so people have turned to a chemical alternative. They can hide it a little more easily. Designer pot has hit the market...and this one is taking a while to stop. One goes away, another analog pops up. Huh.....what's better? A plant that has been around for thousands of years with no report of a death, versus something that hasn't been fully studied? I have read blogs of people in New York that the chemical stuff has been a blessing because they can get away with it and it still takes away many of the the nasty effects of their medicine.

It is about money and control. Most of the useful synthetic canabinioids that John Huffman created and made freely available for use are scheduled to be scheduled....put on a list and made illegal. Meanwhile, major drug companies are applying for patents for slight rearrangements of these.

This is a source of income for the criminal (in)justice system.

There is your answer.

[SirCoolBreeze]

08:33 AM on 02/16/2011

" maxwelldog no link
means you're
just another opinion.
And you know what they say opinions are like, right?
That's exactly what you are, bub. "
Yes, maxwelldog, opinons are just like your opinions. Right?

Again, here are the pertinent facts you and maxwelldog wish to ignore and wish to serial post nonsense at me over:
Here's the facts; driving while impaired with Alcohol or thc is just stupid. Stay at home or get a designated driver/tax­i to take you to the bar to ingest even more drugs after your daily dosage of Caffeine, Nicotine, thc. Alcohol? Maybe cocaine? Maybe xstasy? Maybe crack? Maybe special k? Maybe lsd? Maybe huffing? Maybe heroin? Can you say "I'm a walking drug abuse case study?"
What part of that do you two not agree with?

[FuzzyBongo]

11:01 PM on 02/15/2011

Well, from what I understand pot smoking is causing all kinds of problems in NYC. It is so out of control that this will help all the problems in the city. Oh, wait... Pot smoking really doesn't do anything to create problems in the city... Hmmm, you'd think with all the issues underfoot, NYPD would have better things to focus on. Such tools!

[jayded]

05:04 PM on 02/15/2011

NEWSFLASH: Young minorities are the only ones in the city subject to random searches by police...kind of like Nazi Germany style....

[theuniversalcollective]

08:16 AM on 02/16/2011

not at all like nazi germany, were you to have ever have lived in nazi germany you would know this, shame on you

[Superb1]

01:55 PM on 02/15/2011

I have said it on numerous occasions.....Law Enforcement is a big reason that pot is illegal. Just think of all the cops, judges, prosecutors, probation, parole, prison employees that would be out of jobs or have them severely curtailed if pot were legal.

[maxwelldog]

02:16 AM on 02/15/2011

RE-LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

oops...inside voice, max. Inside voice...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soOrFdIWbDc

[timelord999]

11:35 PM on 02/14/2011

To be very blunt... legalize it.......we have crooked cops who get away with driving drunk, shooting people, we are known terroist target and Pot possession is the number reason for arrest ....just prooves the cops and bloomberg are the biggest dopes and idiots...I can just hear that whiny milktoast voice that gives me the willys explaining this

[Dragoon]

04:22 PM on 02/14/2011

"An astounding 50,383 people were arrested for having marijuana in 2010."

This article, to me, seems misleading. It talks about people arrested for marijuana possession. It doesn't say that if it was the only charge or the basis for the initial stop of the suspect. A person who is arrested for a domestic violence charge, shoplifting, robbery, etc who may a joint in their pocket is charged with marijuana possession. It also doesn't break down if its misdemeanor or violation possession. So I'm not so sure if 50,000 were arrested for just smoking dope. I'm sure a number were dealers who also possessed coke, crack, heroin and pills. What is alarming is that 50,000 arrests account for only about 15% of total arrests. If true there were over 330,000 arrests in NYC in 2010! Arrests for simple possession and "just smoking some weed" are probably a lot lower.

[maxwelldog]

02:19 AM on 02/15/2011

I tend to lean in George Carlin's notation that, when so many were drinking, violence was on the uprise.
After they get stoned, most are at home listening to tunes, resting up for tomorrow's work.

[Aron Kay]

02:20 PM on 02/14/2011

POT IS AN HERB!!! BLOOMBERG IS A DOPE!!!

[onionboy]

03:07 AM on 02/15/2011

I'll do you one better. Pot is a frickin' weed. It's actually more difficult to grow an herb garden. Shouldn't that be telling us something? It's like alcohol. Prohibiting it was ridiculous. My mother used to visit this place Apple Hill when I was kid and come back with a dozen gallon jugs of apple cider. Delicious. But it took a while to drink all of it. Inevitably, those last few jugs would have a little too much "zing". How do you prohibit something that you can make by accident? How do you prohibit something that grows even when you don't want it to (ie, a weed)? I realize in both instances, there's a quality issue, but It's all so silly.

[mavalos]

11:44 AM on 02/14/2011

Texas arrested 1.9 million last year and 88% of that was for merely POT possession. 88% of 1.9 million is close to the population of the state of New Mexico. Texas arrested close to the whole population of New Mexico last year for POT possession.

To me, this country is safer with just drug addicts alone rather than drug addicts PLUS a whole underground black market that is regulated by criminals.

"The failure of Drug War is glaringly obvious to judges, cops, wardens, prosecutors and millions more. Now calling for decriminalization, legalization, the end of prohibition. Let us investigate the Century of Lies." www.drugtruth.com

[Tryandkeepupwillyou]

10:21 AM on 02/14/2011

Its an easy way to look "tough on crime". Pot smokers are excellent inmates. They contribute greatly to make our prison industrial complex less violent.
http://www.lifeforpot.com/
Where is the "liberty and justice for all" part of the pledge actually put into practice?

[fumes]

11:28 AM on 02/14/2011

''Where is the "liberty and justice for all" part of the pledge actually put into practice?''
------------------------
shhh..

that's just something we tell the kids..

you know.. like the stork.. and god.. and

[timelord999]

11:37 PM on 02/14/2011

and the easter bunny, and santa and we are free country...stuff like that too and don't forget to smile at all the camera's on our citys blocks ...you gotta smile for Big Brother

[Joe Burris]

09:45 AM on 02/14/2011

How much did that cost the city of New York????

[Israel4Ever]

07:44 AM on 02/14/2011

Yet another example of Bloomberg's appalling lack of understanding for the nature and tenor of our greatest city.

From Atlantic Yards, to School Chancellor Black, to smoking bans in parks, to his ill-fated efforted to sell corporate naming rights to Central park, to his unconstitutional arrest of demonstrators at the Republican convention to his corporate sell out of time square to his takeover of the city schools to his...well the list is endless.

Glad to see him gone.

[MIKEinNYC]

11:21 PM on 02/13/2011

I cannot believe that the NYPD is wasting so much valuable time and manpower on this victim-less, ballshot so-called crime.