New York City officials are considering issuing tickets for possession of small amounts of marijuana instead of arresting people, officials said.
The new guidelines would allow people with low-level marijuana possession to be issued a court summons rather than requiring them to get handcuffed, arrested, and brought into the precinct for finger-printing, the New York Times reports.
Police arrested some 50,000 people a year on minor marijuana charges during the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Numerous states and localities have decriminalized marijuana for medical or recreational use in recent years.
[NYT]
