Manhattan DA Stops Prosecuting Pot Cases: Here's What It Means

NEW YORK, NY — Getting stoned in Manhattan is now less risky. The borough's district attorney will not prosecute most cases of low-level marijuana possession and smoking under a new policy effective Wednesday.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it will not prosecute New Yorkers arrested for burning bud in public or carrying up to 25 grams of the drug, unless they pose a public safety threat or were found with at least 10 bags of pot.

"Every day I ask our prosecutors to keep Manhattan safe and make our justice system more equal and fair," District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement Tuesday. "The needless criminalization of pot smoking frustrates this core mission, so we are removing ourselves from the equation."

Vance, a Democrat, announced the policy change in May amid debate over racial disparities in how marijuana laws are enforced locally. Black and Hispanic people accounted for 86 percent of the city's marijuana arrests last year despite evidence that different ethnic groups use the drug at similar rates.

The NYPD has issued summonses instead of making arrests for possession of up to 25 grams of pot since 2014, with certain exceptions. But police have continued cuffing people for "burning" the drug in public, which the NYPD has said is the basis for about 90 percent of marijuana arrests.

The Manhattan policy is expected to reduce pot prosecutions there by 96 percent from nearly 5,000 a year to fewer than 200, the DA's office said. Things won't change for people given summonses because they're handled by a separate court, the DA's office said.

That universe of people will likely expand come Sept. 1, when the NYPD will start issuing criminal summonses for public smoking instead of making arrests in certain cases.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD brass announced the shift in June. Police will go easier on tokers without prior criminal records, but the grace won't apply to those who are on parole or probation, lack identification, have a history of violence, or have an outstanding criminal warrant, the city has said. Smoking that poses a "public safety risk," such as toking and driving, will also lead to an arrest.

But some people arrested on pot charges under the NYPD's policy could still avoid prosecution under Vance's, the DA's office said. Parolees arrested for smoking a joint in public, for example, don't fall under Vance's exceptions and would not be prosecuted in Manhattan, according to the DA's office.

The changes come amid a push to make New York the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana. A state Department of Health report in July recommended legalizing and regulating the drug, given the potential tax windfall and social justice benefits. The report also backed expunging the criminal records of people with pot-related offenses.

Vance urged state lawmakers to make the drug legal. He said his new policy would bring his office out of "a system wherein smoking a joint can ruin your job, your college application, or your immigration status, but our advocacy will continue."

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)