Light up a spliff in Manhattan-no problem. Manhattan decriminalises smoking marijuana

As of today August 1, 2018 if you are found smoking a small amount of Marijuana on the streets of Manhattan you may be stopped but most people will not be prosecuted.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has announced the new policy that will end the prosecution of marijuana possession and smoking in the borough, except in cases where the drug is being sold or if it poses a significant threat to public safety or people who are under investigation for violent crimes.

The policy, announced Tuesday, could reduce marijuana prosecutions in Manhattan by as much as 96 per cent, which would account for a drop from 5,000 cases a year to 200 a year, according to a statement from Mr Vance’s office.

“Every day I ask our prosecutors to keep Manhattan safe and make our justice system more equal and fair,” Mr Vance said in a statement while making the announcement. “The needless criminalisation of pot smoking frustrates this core mission, so we are removing ourselves from the equation”.

“Our research has found virtually no public safety rationale for the ongoing arrest and prosecution of marijuana smoking and no moral justification for the intolerable racial disparities that underlie enforcement” said DA Vance, in a statement.

Major de Blasio says this comes out of four years of having a different conversation between the police and the community.

The new policy only applies to Manhattan for now. Each borough have their own set of rule.