NYC lawmakers call for end to marijuana arrests

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Just as some members of the New York City Council denounced the racial disparities in marijuana arrests, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the NYPD will change how it enforces marijuana laws.

"Just take one police precinct—the 76th police precinct, Red Hook in Brooklyn—the number of 311 and 911 calls that came in complaining in 2017 were 88 calls," Council Speaker Corey Johnson said. "The number of arrests in that precinct, the 76th Precinct, were 246 arrests. The numbers don't add up."

Johnson, other council members, and Rev. Al Sharpton demanded an end to the racial gap in marijuana enforcement and called for the legalization of marijuana.

"You look at Breezy Point and the lower part of the Rockaway Peninsula, and there were 113 calls to 311 and 911 but only 22 arrests," Johnson said. "The Rockaway Peninsula, that part, is predominantly a white neighborhood."

A City Council study found that in 2017, 86 percent of people arrested for low-level marijuana possession were black and Hispanic and less than 9 percent were white.

"Now the grandchild of stop-and-frisk is marijuana arrests based on race," Sharpton said.

On Monday, Council Member Donovan Richards, the public safety committee chairman, pressed NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill on the topic.

"I think our data shows that we are responsive to community complaints as well as 911 and 311 complaints," O'Neill testified Monday. "There is a disparity and we're trying to find what that disparity is. We're not looking to arrest any people of color that have no nexus to violence, to crime or violence.

Johnson is calling on the NYPD to issue summonses instead of making arrests when someone is caught smoking pot in public.

At an event in Washington, D.C., de Blasio announced the NYPD will change how it enforces marijuana laws.

"The NYPD will overhaul and reform its policies related to marijuana enforcement in the next 30 days," he said but did not elaborate.

Also, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said his office will decline to prosecute marijuana possession and smoking cases starting Aug. 1.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report estimating the potential market for marijuana in New York State at roughly $3.1 billion, including approximately $1.1 billion in New York City.