Ray Kelly
Insufficient Banking Remains Challenge for Legal Marijuana Industry
A week ago we spoke concerning the fact our Commander in Chief looks like it’s unaware of the separation of forces. President Obama attempted to assert that he’s powerless to assist reschedule marijuana laws and regulations. He obviously was remedied through the reporter performing the job interview and informed the Department of Justice works best for the Leader. Mr. Obama is extremely wise and it is an old leader from the Harvard Law Review. This would lead someone to think that his outward naive behavior was intentional, something that’s simply not likely to sit well with reformers and medicinal marijuana patients.
A Possible End to Stop and Frisk May Shine Light During Dark Times in New York
New Yorkers may have something to look forward to as they clean up the devastating mess left by Sandy. While by no means do we at marijuana.net want to sugarcoat the impact and seriousness of the situation, we thought residents of New York may want to have their spirits lifted. Most residents of New York City will be at home or at evacuation centers as the MTA has shut down all bus and subway service and public schools are closed. New York City’s controversial “Stop and Frisk” policy may be soon coming to an end.
Last year NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a memo to police officers that instructed them not to coerce citizens into taking marijuana out of their pockets so they can be arrested on the “plain view” rule. Concealed possession (Under 25g) of marijuana is a civil citation ticket, however, when in “plain sight” the charge is escalated to a misdemeanor. This obviously goes against the spirit of the law. The city has to spend much more money on processing, incarcerations, and court fees due to additional arrests. The arrests disproportionately target non whites and teens which has drawn considerable criticism.
Many residents and lawmakers have been fighting to fix the laws for a long time. The most high profile example comes from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is currently putting pressure on state legislators in Albany to fix the law. Joining the effort is a Bronx DA, Jeannette Rucker, who will not allow “stop and frisk” arrests on public housing property until an interview with the arresting officer is conducted. The move was in response to mounting complaints that officers are wrongly arresting residents.
The issue of repealing “Stop and Frisk” has taken years to gain momentum. However, now that the train is moving it may not stop until the policy is fixed. Besides the Governor’s efforts and the move by Jeannette Rucker, there was a hearing held last week in Brooklyn by City Council members. The hearing included people who are on both sides of the issue such as members of the NYPD and activists against the policy. We expect more of these hearings to occur after New York recovers from Hurricane Sandy. New York City has so much damage to fix immediately, but ending “Stop and Frisk” will help fix problems of the future.
Protests in New York City Held in Support of Marijuana Reform amid Giant St. Patrick’s Celebration
Over the weekend New York City upheld one of its most famous and long standing traditions. Over 100,000 people dressed in green were in attendance for the 2012 St. Patrick’s Day Parade where the consumption of corn beef and alcohol are commonplace.
Another celebration of green took place during the parade as well. Members of the New York State chapter of NORML made their way through the raucous crowd and to City Hall. This protest now marks the 3rd annual protest on New York’s City Hall. Holding the protest during the most recognized binge drinking holiday was not by accident. Doug Greene, the Legislative Director of Empire State NORML told CBS 880 news at the protest that “We’re reminding New York City that there is a safer alternative to pools of vomit in the streets.” He also went on to say “There were over 50,000 arrests last year for low-level marijuana possession, which is a waste of scarce city resources.”
New York City is known for setting trends in fashion, finance, cuisine, and social movements. However, it still is known as an unfriendly destination for cannabis patients and advocates. As Doug Greene mentioned, there was still a very amount of low level possession arrests last year. What is more troubling is this still occurred in the face of a direct memo from NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly who released a memo trying to curb the low level convictions. Although the numbers did decline toward the latter part of 2011, convictions were still alarmingly high.
Although New York State decriminalized marijuana possession over 30 years ago, the New York City police have been overly aggressive in issuing misdemeanor arrests for public use and/or possession. One former NYC police officer joined the protest at City Hall and reflected on her time as a police officer. Joanne Naughton said ” I retired as a lieutenant from the NYPD… What I did decades ago wasn’t any good, didn’t do any good. It was a waste of time.” While activists may have more work ahead, there is a bill in New York State’s legislature that could legalize medical marijuana. New trends can seemingly come out of nowhere and as the famous Don Henley song suggests, situations in New York can change in a minute.