Episode Details

In New York City 17,500 people are arrested each year for marijuana possession, according to The New York Times. And the Bronx has the fourth highest per-capita arrest rate for marijuana possession of any county-level jurisdiction in the country.

African-American and Latino and communities are the hardest hit by this kind of law enforcement. Government health surveys have found that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young blacks and Latinos, but the NYPD has arrested blacks for marijuana possession at seven times the rate of whites, and Latinos at nearly four times the rate of whites.

State Senator Liz Krueger has emerged as a hero of New York State’s movement to legalize marijuana. She has introduced the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, a bill that calls for marijuana to be sold and regulated like alcohol. It’s a new approach after years of racially discriminatory outcomes. But what are its chances?

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