Comments on: NYPD spent 1,000,000 hours arresting 440,000 people for cannabis possession over last 11 years

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:48:00 +0000

Is your sarcasm meter broken?

By: endrest

endrest — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:16:00 +0000

Exactly. I know a friend that has a red card (legal possession under one ounce) and had a small amount in his car. He informed the officer of his card-carrying status. The officer blatantly lied on his report and forced him to waste the court’s time. I really hope the officer was reprimanded by the chain of command.

By: CLamb

CLamb — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:07:00 +0000

Hence this organization http://www.citizensopposingprohibition.org/

By: endrest

endrest — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:24:00 +0000

Oh, really? You’d squeal on someone for possession of marijuana? Glad I’m not your neighbor. And even if I was and you were going to narc on me, I’d still help you and your family get out of your burning house.

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:03:00 +0000

If you honestly believe what you are saying you should not be driving cars.

Check out some random stopping distance calculators online:If you’re travelling at about 35 (a reasonable and fairly common urban speed distance) you should be able to come to a complete stop within about 29m. At 42 that distance is extended to 39m. This is dry conditions, wet, icy or snowy conditions will increase the distances again.

If a pedestrian steps into your path at 20 metres you’ll hit them either way, but you’ll hit them a heck of a lot faster (just over halfway through your skid) if you were travelling at 42 compared to 35.

As to your last sentence; don’t be absurd, I never said anything of the sort.

By: Christopher Houser

Christopher Houser — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:24:00 +0000

If 7 miles per hour is the difference between you killing a pedestrian or not, you shouldn’t be driving a car.

Unless you mean hitting them at the speed you’re going (if you didn’t react, again, you should not be driving a car), 35 versus 42, in which case it doesn’t matter anymore because you’re causing absurd bodily harm. Speed limit laws should not be kept low because of silly reasoning such as that. If you were to actually follow your own reasoning, you’d realize that what you want is for cars to stop existing, or being allowed to go above an average running pace.

By: EH

EH — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:52:00 +0000

I really don’t care if RJ Reynolds starts selling Bud Light quality weed, as long as it’s legal for them to do so and legal for me or my loved ones to carry it around. Lest we be reminded:

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/08/police_claim_handcuffed_marijuana_suspect_shot_him.php

Eyes on the prize, man. Agripolitics are a separate issue, and nothing about legalization “needs” a lack of industrialization.

By: jackbird

jackbird — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:01:00 +0000

I think running a Manhattan speed trap would be a lonely job.

By: matt w

matt w — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:49:00 +0000

and this has CLEARLY curbed all of the use of marijuana in NYC..yea RIGHT ! What about alcohol ? We go RIGHT past that DRUG !

By: peregrinus

peregrinus — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Are stoners easier to arrest and process than meth addicts? 2 hours does seem quick. the police union would hate to see hash de-criminalised – numbers count.

By: Chauncey Scott

Chauncey Scott — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:38:00 +0000

Pot isn’t a victimless crime. There’s big bucks to be made and with that comes competition, gang activity and violence. Also the environmental impact is astronomical. The only way to lessen the impact is to legalize it. However it needs to be of a self grow/harvest/small operation nature, so big industrial farms aren’t throwing even more pesticides and herbicides into our groundwater. Also, I’m sure Marlboro (RJ Reynolds) has a secret formula of additives ready and waiting to make a great natural flower into an addictive habit. Additionally I think a lot of farmers would shift away from crops to a money maker and we’d hear national media stories about food shortages all the time, so who would be able to grow it would be a big sticking point as well.

While the NYPD has wasted resources chasing kids with joints, taking down guys with 100-200lbs is a worthwhile endeavor.

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:25:00 +0000

Or, you know half those possession charges could have been for a gram or two…

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:24:00 +0000

You’re right they should be ticketing people for going 11km over the speed limit. That is easily the difference between killing a pedestrian or cyclist and not killing them in an urban environment.

By: mindfu

mindfu — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:47:00 +0000

Thankfully not exactly how things are in SF. Altho I’m sure the difference is made up with parking tickets.

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:29:00 +0000

depends…
http://norml.org/laws/penalties/item/new-york-penalties-2

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:27:00 +0000

Okay, you’ve convinced me. Thanks!

By: Dimitrios Papagiannis

Dimitrios Papagiannis — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:21:00 +0000

Just legalize and tax the stuff.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:06:00 +0000

Absolutely! Because this way, the poor can pay for New Yorkers’ basic services and infrastructure, while the Job Creators enjoy their justly-deserved tax cuts. I’ll bet it works the same way in your town, too.

By: tylerdurden

tylerdurden — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:52:00 +0000

Yes, we do, because as I found out just recently here in Colorado: apparently cops/sherrifs can openly choose which laws they enforce and which ones they don’t.

By: Bradley Robinson

Bradley Robinson — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:46:00 +0000

Politics surrounding the weed aside, no, not at all.

By: Snig

Snig — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:40:00 +0000

If they had spent their time pollinating flowers instead, we could reduce the impact of colony collapse disorder.

By: glatt1

glatt1 — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:38:00 +0000

The numbers seem wrong to me too. That’s 2 hours per arrest. That seems really fast and efficient. Booking alone can easily take more than 2 hours.

By: mindfu

mindfu — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:32:00 +0000

So, a minimum of $100/ticket plus an apparently heft NY state surcharge x 440,000 = $44 million, or about $4 million/ year.

Better than raising taxes instead, people might complain. Grrrr….

By: Joel Rose

Joel Rose — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:30:00 +0000

That’d be 114 man-years spent over 11 years.

By: raleighstclair

raleighstclair — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:27:00 +0000

It wasn’t illegal though and hasn’t been for 25 years.

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:12:00 +0000

Thanks, It wasn’t clear to me from the paper what other time was used. I”d be curious to know what percentage of busts involve stake-outs and such versus just seeing someone light up on the street and hauling them in.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:10:00 +0000

If I remember my Law And Order Theory properly…

Then Jerry Orbach makes a quip. [DOINK-DOINK.]

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:08:00 +0000

I agree with you in principle, pot possession shouldn’t be illegal. But given that it is (was?), do we fault the police for enforcing the law? (I’m not going to go into all the various corruption/crap things that some cops do…)

By: Pat Wisking

Pat Wisking — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:03:00 +0000

I’m far more uncomfortable walking by NYPD officers holding assault rifles than I am walking by someone smoking a joint. The former also happens more frequently.

By: EH

EH — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:57:00 +0000

Don’t forget the fact that extra staff are necessary to deal with this load: officers at the stationhouse, court employees, jail employees. On the upshot, NY apparently banned private prisons over 10 years ago.