When I worked in Manhattan, I saw all sorts of people smoking reefer - and you could smell it everywhere - but never did I see anyone getting arrested for it. My guess is the marijuana law is there to assist with cleaning up the streets, as in Giuliani’s quality of life campaign. I’m sure Comrade De Blasio will screw this one up, too.
I never saw marijuana smoking past the 70s - never. But then I was in Manhattan all the time not some of the “poorer” boroughs or the upper reaches of Harlem. I loathe the smell of mj.
The mailroom boys used to sit outside on the plaza in front of my office, surrounded by a cloud of dope, both at lunch and before they went into work. It probably explained why they could never deliver the mail right and why they never progressed beyond the mailroom.
But I never saw anyone get arrested, or even cited, and this was about 20 years ago. The law was primarily used for breaking up bunches of threatening people hanging around buildings uptown, usually because their decent neighbors had called and asked the police to get them off the stoop. It was a tool, in other words.
The curious thing is that you can get cited (or possibly even arrested) for smoking regular cigarettes in parks and other public places. But I guess dope is different. Stay stupid, people. De Blasio likes you that way.
“,,,but never did I see anyone getting arrested for it...”
But god forbid if you get caught smoking a cigarette.