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Report: NYPD Devotes Over 1 Million Hours to Pot Arrests

HeadlineMar 20, 2013

A new report says the New York City Police Department is dedicating vast amounts of time and energy to arresting hundreds of thousands of people for the low-level misdemeanor of marijuana possession. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, from 2002 to 2012 under Democratic Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the NYPD spent more than one million hours of police officer time arresting roughly 440,000 people for marijuana possession. According to the report: “That is the equivalent of having 31 police officers working eight hours a day, 365 days a year, for 11 years, making only marijuana possession arrests.” Critics of the city’s marijuana arrest policy say it disproportionately targets people of color and diverts resources from more serious offenses.

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