Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #MarijuanaJustice
Most recents (10)
1/THREAD: Recreational Marijuana legalization just passed the NYS Legislature! What does this mean for immigrant NYers? #PassTheMRTA #MarijuanaJustice
2/Marijuana-related activity has been a major factor dragging immigrants into the arrest-to-deportation pipeline. After years of organizing by immigrant advocates, criminal legal system advocates, & others, New York passed the MRTA! bit.ly/3fu23ux #MarijuanaJustice
3/MRTA includes big changes to NY law, including:
-legal possession of small amounts of marijuana for ppl 21+
-Creation of an NY licensing system to allow ppl & businesses to sell marijuana
-Expanded access to medical marijuana for many NY'ers
#PassTheMRTA #MarijuanaJustice
-legal possession of small amounts of marijuana for ppl 21+
-Creation of an NY licensing system to allow ppl & businesses to sell marijuana
-Expanded access to medical marijuana for many NY'ers
#PassTheMRTA #MarijuanaJustice
🚨RIGHT NOW: NY is on cusp of finally legalizing marijuana. But there's a hold up. Gov. Cuomo is *insisting* cops still get to claim an "odor" to justify racist searches. Public defenders know that the "odor of marijuana" drives broken windows policing. No!nytimes.com/2019/09/12/nyr…
NY Judge in 2019: "The time has come to reject the canard of marijuana emanating from nearly every vehicle subject to a traffic stop. So ubiquitous has the claim become that it should be subject to a heightened level of scrutiny if it is to supply the grounds for a search.”
"One woman who served on a grand jury in Brooklyn recalled hearing officers in 2 separate cases claim to have 'detected a strong odor of marijuana' and use it as justification for a stop or a search. 'They said it very formulaically.'"
🚨RIGHT NOW: NY is on cusp of finally legalizing marijuana. But there's a hold up. Cuomo is *insisting* cops still be able to lie about smelling an "odor" to justify racist stops & searches. Public defenders know that the "odor of marijuana" drives broken windows policing. No! 
NY Judge in 2019: "The time has come to reject the canard of marijuana emanating from nearly every vehicle subject to a traffic stop. So ubiquitous is the claim, it should be subject to a heightened level of scrutiny to supply the grounds for a search.” nytimes.com/2019/09/12/nyr…
"One woman who served on a grand jury in Brooklyn recalled hearing officers in 2 separate cases claim to have 'detected a strong odor of marijuana' and use it as justification for a stop or a search. 'They said it very formulaically.'"
THREAD: Andrew Cuomo wants to take a victory lap & be a "hero" again for trying to legalize marijuana in NY. But *marijuana justice is more than just legalization.* It must be done w/ equity, reinvestment, & justice to begin to undo the damage of prohibition. His proposal fails.
Marijuana criminalization has devastated Black & Brown communities. Criminal records. Broken windows. Jail & prison. Feeling imprisoned on your block. Excluded from housing. Precluded from work & education. Any plan for legalization that doesn't attempt to fully repair is wrong.
Even though NYC claims to have stopped arresting people for possession, (a) it's not true & (b) the claimed "odor of marijuana" continues to drive racist broken windows policing. Racial disparities have only increased. Continued damage done. Saw it as a PD:
The war on MJ has disproportionately impacted Black, Latinx, & Indigenous ppl. We need #marijuanajustice! That’s why the MORE Act addresses the life-long barriers & harms ppl face due to previous convictions. Ask Congress not to leave communities behind: bit.ly/MORENow
The @ACLU's latest report, "A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform" highlights that between 2010 and 2018, Black ppl were arrested for marijuana at 3.64 the rate as white ppl aclu.org/report/tale-tw…
These racially disparate arrests compound harms associated with criminalization. Those with recurring tickets and fines have mounting fees to pay, those charged with misdemeanors eventually may see charges turn into felonies. Meanwhile others see no consequences for use at all.
This 🧵 is about the @DNC's platform vote on cannabis and why I will not back down in my support of legalization even though my Party did not vote in favor of legalization.
#Marijuana #MarijuanaJustice #cannabis #NCpol #CannabisCommunity #Cannabisnews #USpolitics #DNC #DemCast
#Marijuana #MarijuanaJustice #cannabis #NCpol #CannabisCommunity #Cannabisnews #USpolitics #DNC #DemCast
On July 27, the @DNC voted against an amendment to its official 2020 policy platform. This amendment would've supported the legalization of medicinal & recreational cannabis across the country; however, it was sharply rejected with a sweeping 50-106 vote.
tinyurl.com/y379n2hj
tinyurl.com/y379n2hj
Beyond taking action right now for #MarijuanaJustice, calling on NY lawmakers to support #StartSmartNY, #NewYorkers should use this discussion as opportunity to think more broadly about how ill-equipped the legal system is to deal w/ public health issues, nuisances, most things.
Marijuana possession is just one of many offenses that everyone should now agree belong nowhere near criminal court. Drug possession, turnstile jumping, suspended licenses, trespass, petit larceny. “Crimes” of poverty, homelessness, addiction, health. #MarijuanaJustice
If you’re moved & want to do something, support the marijuana legalization bill in NY. Visit here (👇) for more on how to get involved. This could happen this month: smart-ny.com
A2: Legalization is a civil & human rights issue. I don’t care if you don’t care for the smell of weed. Or buy into false narrative it is a gateway drug. Or oppose drug use on moral grounds. Prohibition is objectively, observably racist & destructive. #MarijuanaJustice
NYPD always claims that it is complaints (911 & 311 calls) that drive racially disproportionate marijuana arrests. Nope. As we legalization advocates been screaming about for years, it’s actually just racism. #MarijuanaJustice
nytimes.com/2018/05/13/nyr…
nytimes.com/2018/05/13/nyr…
Meanwhile, this article came out today. Upstate officials still “uncertain why theres widening race gap” in enforcement. Arrests of white people fell to record low in 2017/18, but surged for people color. Why uncertainty? It's Racism. #MarijuanaJustice m.timesunion.com/news/article/m…
A1: *Only* legalization—NOT decriminalization, NOT a no-arrest policy, NOT a no-prosecution policy—will ensure that the devastation of marijuana prohibition imposed on predominately people of color ends. #MarijuanaJustice
As a public defender working at @BklynDefender, an office representing nearly half of every one arrested in Brooklyn, we see every day how marijuana drives broken windows policing, whether or not the police are even arresting or prosecutors charging as much. #MarijuanaJustice
Despite drop in arrests/prosecutions in NYC, 1000s still unnecessarily stopped, ticketed & fined for marijuana. Racial disparities have actually increased to 91% of all arrests, despite similar levels of use. Upstate, arrests & prosecutions continue in earnest. #MarijuanaJustice
The failed War on Drugs has really been a war on people—disproportionately criminalizing poor people, people of color & people with mental illness. I’m reintroducing the #MarijuanaJustice Act to begin reversing our failed federal drug policies. Join us: act.corybooker.com/page/s/justice…
The Marijuana Justice Act doesn’t just end the federal prohibition on marijuana—it also incentivizes states to change their marijuana laws if those laws are being enforced in a way that disproportionately impacts people of color and the poor.
Black people are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white peers even though they use marijuana at similar rates. If we truly want to be a fair and just nation we need to correct for this disparate treatment of enforcement practices.
