Dick Gottfried

By Nathan Riley, January 18

BY NATHAN RILEY | Demanding that New York State stop racist law enforcement patterns by legalizing adult use of marijuana, advocates told members of the State Assembly, including Health Committee chair Richard N. Gottfried, a Chelsea Democrat, that police stops are traumatizing black and brown New Yorkers.

At a January 11 hearing in Lower Manhattan, speaker after speaker insisted that being searched, handcuffed, marched into court, and chained to other arrestees in the morning is often traumatizing.

“Marijuana decriminalization has fallen short and will continue to do so,” Kassandra Frederique, the New York State director of the Drug Policy Alliance, contended.

Even with reductions in stop and frisk, it remains up to the police officer to distinguish between private possession and possession in public view, which can trigger a criminal arrest. Those nabbed, overwhelmingly black and Latino New Yorkers, are fingerprinted and given retinal scans. Police officers have no immediate way of knowing if their victim faces deportation or loss of a job or a scholarship, but no matter what the arrestee is left cowed and confused.

By Caroline Lewis, February 12

Although it’s uncertain if a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol could become law in New York, a state Assembly hearing Thursday showed that lawmakers are taking the prospect of legalizing “adult use” seriously.

Rather than simply focusing on whether the state should end the prohibition of recreational marijuana, Assembly members asked pointed questions about what legalization should look like.

Advocates from the Drug Policy Alliance, Vocal-NY and a range of other advocacy groups said that full legalization in New York should address the harm that prohibition has caused to communities of color, whose members are disproportionately arrested for marijuana possession. One approach is to proactively diversify license recipients.

By Ivan Pereira, January 11

Lawmakers had the dubious task Thursday of opening the floor to arguments for the legalization of marijuana in New York.

In light of growing national support over for legalizing pot — a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found that 58 percent of Americans want it decriminalized — State Assemb. Richard Gottfried, who chairs the assembly’s health committee, said the state needed to take a serious look at its antiquated drug enforcement laws.

“We want to hear from a diverse group” Gottfried said.