NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York’s Senate has approved a bill that places possession of small amounts of pot on the same level as a traffic ticket.
After the failure of full legalization, it’s a big step forward, say supporters who cite the harm marijuana enforcement has done to poorer communities and people of color.
Before the vote, Brooklyn State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery spoke about the significance of the first change in the marijuana law in more than 40 years.
“Today we are accomplishing a huge aspect of solving the problem of crime or decriminalization of possession of marijuana, so Mr. President, I vote aye,” she said. "This is a very long time coming."
Soon possession of less than one ounce will be a violation subject to a $50 fine. Possession of up to two ounces, currently a class B misdemeanor, will become a violation punishable by up to a $200 fine.
The bill did not change the legal status of smoking marijuana in public, which is still a violation.
The legislation will also expunge the records of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers convicted of low-level pot possession.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it the decriminalization a "major, major step forward."