Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Bloomberg the hypocrite

Some startling statistics about marijuana arrests in NYC have been flying around the internet – marijuana arrests are up by almost an order of magnitude, and the arrestees are disproportionately black or Hispanic. The NYT implies that it was this embarrassment that led to Bloomberg's crackdown:

Among the pretty large population of white people who have used pot and not been arrested for it is Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Asked during the 2001 campaign by New York magazine if he had ever smoked it, Mr. Bloomberg replied: “You bet I did. And I enjoyed it.” After he was elected and his remarks were used in advertisements by marijuana legalization advocates, Mr. Bloomberg said his administration would vigorously enforce the laws.

I can't really think of any other reason for the crackdown, considering his oft-touted common sense approach (and would could be more common sensical?). The article also includes this creepy anecdote at the end:

More than 30 years ago, legislators and the governor agreed, in broad terms, that the state would no longer jail people in possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The exceptions are that anyone caught “burning” marijuana or with it “open to public view” faces a misdemeanor charge.

The man who appeared in criminal court on Tuesday explained how his pot came to be openly displayed to police officers, even though he was in his car.

“I came out of the building, and this unmarked car, no light, no indication it was police, was right on me,” said the man, a Latino who asked that his name not be used because he was concerned about his job. “Right on my tail. An officer got out, he said, ‘I saw you walking from that building, I know you bought weed, give me the weed.’ He made it an option: ‘Give me the weed now and I will give you a summons, or we can search your vehicle and can take you in.’ ”

He opened the console and handed them his marijuana — making it “open to public view.”

“I was duped,” he said. But the deception was legal, and his pot wasn’t.

The officers escorted him in handcuffs to the unmarked car.

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