News
Breaking News: New York City Getting Ready to Lay Groundwork for Legalization of Marijuana
The NYDailyNews reports:
Mayor de Blasio will tell the NYPD to stop arresting people for public pot smoking — and launch a new group to officially prepare the city for the outright legalization of marijuana in New York.
De Blasio, who has long opposed making recreational pot legal, now says he thinks legalization is inevitable and is creating an official task force to get ready for the day when that happens.
While pot remains illegal, Hizzoner will direct the NYPD to give summonses to people they catch smoking in public instead of arresting them, his aides said Sunday.
That policy change will be part of a 30-day review the mayor announced last week to address the massive racial disparity in marijuana arrests.
And de Blasio isn’t stopping there — he’ll put together a task force of city officials to lay the groundwork for full legalization, figuring out issues like how cops will deal with public smokers, what kind of zoning will be needed for pot dispensaries, and what types of public health campaigns the city should run about marijuana.
0 comments