New York State Decriminalized Marijuana Over Twenty Years Ago

Posted: October 7th, 2009 | Author: Cannabista | Filed under: LAGNIAPPE, NEW YORK CITY | Tags: cannabis, cannabista, DECRIMINALIZATION, DRUG LAWS, GRANDDADDY PURPLE, LAWS, LEGAL, MARC JACOBSON, MARIJUANA, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, NEW YORK STATE, NORML, NYC, OPEN VIEW, POSSESSION, REFORM, SPLITTING IMAGE OF POT, STILETTO STONERS | Comments Off

I am ashamed that I, a card car­ry­ing mem­ber of the New York Cannabis Cognoscenti, did not know this. Decrim­i­nal­iza­tion means there is “no prison time or crim­i­nal record for first-time pos­ses­sion of a small amount for per­sonal con­sump­tion. The con­duct is treated like a minor traf­fic vio­la­tion.” (NORML)

I always thought New York State had some of the most puni­tive drug laws in the United States. I would like to give shout out to New York Mag­a­zine and writer Mark Jacob­son for bring­ing us a bril­liant piece titled The Split­ting Image of Pot. Mark Jacob­son, fel­low smoker and jour­nal­ist extra­or­dinare, shares a valu­able bit of 411 with New York Magazine’s readers:

“pos­ses­sion of 25 grams, or seven-eighths of an ounce is not a crime in New York State and has not been since the pas­sage of the Mar­i­juana Reform Act of 1977, or 32 years ago.”

Can this be true?  Seven-eighths (7÷8) of an ounce is a lot of bud. So ‚six-eighth of an ounce  of mar­i­juana (see stash photo below) is not a crime in the Big Apple. Just one more rea­son to love NY.

Bista_ 136

I wanted to smarten up a bit before I passed this info along. Dur­ing my trolling through cyber­space I learned the following:

New York State, the most com­mon offences fall under two cat­e­gories: Unlaw­ful Pos­ses­sion of Mar­i­juana and Crim­i­nal Pos­ses­sion of Mar­i­juana. The most com­mon charge is Unlaw­ful Pos­ses­sion of Mar­i­juana (UPM — Penal Law 221.05) for pos­ses­sion of less than 25 grams (about 7/8 of an ounce) of mar­i­juana. This is a vio­la­tion — it is not a crime. Also com­mon is Crim­i­nal Pos­ses­sion of Mar­i­juana in the fifth degree (CPM — Penal Law 221.10) for pos­ses­sion in a pub­lic place where the mar­i­juana is either burn­ing or open to pub­lic view, or where the amount is more than 25 grams but less than 2 ounces.

It’s impor­tant to note one key excep­tion. If the pot is “burn­ing or open to pub­lic view,” then the 25-gram deal does not apply. So smoke sit­ting in com­forts of your own (or your friends’) home.

Please pass this 411 along to your fel­low stiletto ston­ers. Shar­ing is caring!

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