Queens Leads The Five Boroughs In Marijuana Arrests, Data Shows

QUEENS, NY — Queens has the most cases of low-level marijuana possession cases among the five boroughs, data from The Legal Aid Society shows.

Since the start of this year, Queens has had more low-level marijuana possession cases than Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island combined, the Queens Daily Eagle reported.

Legal Aid attorneys have represented 187 clients in Queens facing charges for low-level possession, or having under eight ounces of marijuana on hand. Only the Bronx comes close to Queens — with 141 cases.

The number of arrests for low-level marijuana possession has decreased by more than 88 percent citywide under new NYPD protocol, according the Queens Daily Eagle, but people of color were arrested at a highly disproportionate rate.

In the first three months of 2019, a stunning 95 percent of the 476 people arrested for publicly smoking weed or possessing more than 25 grams of the drug were people of color. During the same time last year, 93 percent of the 4,081 people arrested were people of color.

The NYPD announced last year that officers would ticket rather than arrest people for smoking marijuana in public, except if they have past arrests or convictions.

Prosecution of marijuana possession has been a hot-button issue in the upcoming Queens District Attorney race. All seven Democratic candidates have pledged to not pursue those cases, though candidate Betty Lugo has told Patch she may decide on a case-by-case basis.

Read the full story in the Queens Daily Eagle.