New York pot arrests are going to be different this time around after a few changes on the city's marijuana policy have been made, NBC New York has learned.
As per the policy changes, New York pot arrests will not be carried out for people with low-level marijuana charges, so instead of being handcuffed and taken to precincts, they are going to be issued with summonses.
The department brass of the city announced these changes on Monday and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton expects that these changes should be issued Tuesday and be imposed starting Nov. 19.
Under the new policy on New York pot arrests, New Yorkers caught possessing less than 25 grams of pot "may be eligible" to receive a $100 summons instead of being escorted to jail.
Additionally, people who are caught burning or smoking cannabis are still subject to pot arrests in the city.
Individuals having active warrants for an arrest who fail to provide authorities with proper identification will still be arrested for minor pot offenses.
The changes in the New York pot arrests provision of the city were made because Bratton believes that this will save the city some money overtime and will enable officers to focus more on other serious crimes than just marijuana possession.
This is of course a different course for officers, who previously made over thousands of arrests annually for minor marijuana possession charges.
Because of the marijuana policy changes, half of the individuals arrested over marijuana possession charges have been released provided they have an appearance ticket after they were fingerprinted and checked for open warrants.
In contrast, half still remain under the custody of the authorities until they participate in an arraignment hearing before a judge, reports New York Times.
Interestingly, the Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Arrest Research Project revealed that about 86 percent of the people arrested over marijuana possession between January and August this year were black or Latino. On the other hand, only 10 percent account for white.
The recent study also found that most of these people were young adults who have no real criminal record.
"This new policy is a reasonable response to the thousands of low-level marijuana arrests that weigh down the criminal justice system, require significant resources that could be redirected to more serious crimes and take an unnecessary toll on offenders," Brooklyn district attorney Kenneth P. Thompson said in a statement.
At least five other states are also gearing to make changes on their marijuana policies similar to the New York pot arrests as the public support for marijuana legalization scored an all-time high, according to Washington Post.
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