This is the opposite Giuliani’s approach to bringing down the crime rate. Giuliani enforced all of the ‘little laws’ that weren’t being enforced ... his thinking being that if you don’t enforce all the laws, then people develop a mindset that it is ok to break the law.
Here’s what isn’t mentioned:
The current low level marijuana laws in NYC are unenforceable because they are morally repugnant to the vast majority of street beat cops.
Definitely over 30% of street beat cops in NYPD have used marijuana, and it’s probably closer to 80% have used it. Nearly 100% of NYPD street beat cops know people who both smoke marijuana and live productive and normal lives.
And yes, the street beat cops also know about the total fuck ups, but you rarely if ever see a total fuck up who only uses marijuana in NYC. IT is not a gateway drug in NYC, marijuana is now the drug of choice of people who consciously choose to NOT destroy themselves. There are plenty of ways and plenty of drugs available to destroy oneself in NYC, the end user has to repeatedly refuse offers for these harder drugs on a normal basis.
in NYC there is heroin that is now cheaper per high than marijuana, cocaine that is cheaper per high than marijuana.
Lethargic fatass stoners in NYC don’t last long, they get evicted and go be poor somewhere else.
On the other end of the spectrum, the artistic/creative industry people in NYC represent a much larger percentage of the marijuana user base in NYC than in the country in general, and they produce tens of billions of dollars in economic activity each year. Regular and casual and former marijuana users control much of the major industries in the city, and they are more powerful than the Drug Warriors industrial complex lobbyists who do not live, work and vote in NYC.