New York - The New York State Senate and Assembly passed legislation (S.6579A/A.8420A), to continue decriminalizing cannabis in our state. The bill lowers the fines associated with possessing small amounts of cannabis, under 2 ounces, to be up to $200. This bill also introduces a retroactive expungement mechanism into our criminal justice system, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands.

This “decriminalization” bill that is currently waiting for the Governor to sign into law, does nothing to end arrests for cannabis possession. Instead, the bill reduces penalties for public use and burning to a violation that can still ultimately lead to arrest. Cannabis was decriminalized by New York in 1977, and yet millions of people have been arrested since then and we became the cannabis arrest capital of the country.