Is Mayor Bill de Blasio preparing for marijuana legalization in NYC?
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Marijuana and New York City are not exactly strangers to each other - and soon that friendship might be about to reach a new 'high.'
A City Hall Spokesperson tweeted that Mayor de Blasio is preparing for marijuana legalization in New York City.
The mayor will reportedly tell the NYPD to stop arresting people for public pot smoking. Police will give summonses instead.
"We must and we will end unnecessary arrests and end disparity in enforcement," Mayor de Blasio said.
The news is the first step following the mayor's announcement last week that the NYPD will overhaul its policies on marijuana enforcement within the next 30 days.
It is a response to a scathing report showing that nearly nine out of ten summonses for marijuana are given to blacks and Hispanics, who are eight times more likely to be arrested for cannabis.
Even New York Senior Senator Charles Schumer is coming around on the issue.
"We have five states now that have legalized marijuana. Crime has not gone up. Drug usage has not gone up. And marijuana has not proved a passageway to more serious drugs," said Schumer.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson on Eyewitness News' 'Up Close' said he was on board as well.
"We have too many young people of color being caught up in the criminal justice system having their lives ruined in many ways because they get arrested for smoking pot. It doesn't make any sense," said Johnson.
However not every New Yorker is ready for legalization.
"If they're near children. Personally, I don't disagree or agree, because right now wherever you walk, you smell it in the air," said one resident.
The mayor is not fully supporting legalizing pot, but he says it is only a matter of time, and the city should be ready.
It is unclear when the new policy will take effect.
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