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The cat must have gone through Jersey and across the GW Bridge.
Columbia’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse published a study that supports a link between childhood family dinners and substance free living. (ABC News)
NYC Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, released a memo last Friday that instructed police officers to no longer arrest people for small-time pot possession. So long as you have less than 15 grams, the worst the man can slap you with is a $100 fine. (WNYC)
After being lost for 5 years, a Colorado cat turns up in Manhattan and is quickly reunited with its original family. (Huff Po)
The Atlantic cobbled together an ultimate guide to literary references in the Simpsons.
NYT has a full review of James Franco’s newest starring role as “Professor” down at NYU.
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3 Comments
@Katharine Celentano Hey Bwog,
Quick correction on the NYC Police Commissioner story.
It’s actually less than 25 grams, not 15. Possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana has actually been decriminalized in New York State since 1977.
However, students should still be cautious, as NYC has a staggering arrest rate of small quantities of marijuana (over 50,000 last year alone! That’s more than were arrested between 1978 and 1996 combined) in spite of decrim.
Kelly’s memo did not create a new law, but merely reiterated that arresting under such circumstances is inappropriate, which is basically an admission on the part of NYPD that many of these arrests have been inappropriate, and indeed unlawful.
The intersection of extensive use of stop-and-frisk as a policing tool and the “public view” provision have played a large role in the rate of arrests. Even under 25 grams, marijuana in public view is not decriminalized. So marijuana out of your pocket is still illegal, but in your pocket it’s decriminalized. During stop-and-frisks, officers often ask individuals to turn out their pockets – once that happens, the possession is a crime. All of this goes against the original intent of the law.
Additionally, the arrests have exhibited staggering racial disparity. Nearly 90% of marijuana personal possession arrests since 2002 have been of black or Latinos (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/nyregion/push-for-marijuana-arrests-in-ny-has-side-effects.html) despite the fact that studies show whites use at higher rates (http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2011/02/2010-nyc-marijuana-arrest-numbers-released-50383-new-yorkers-arrested-possessing-small-)
– Katharine
President, Columbia University Students for Sensible Drug Policy
@omggggggosh! i LOVE cats! i love every kind of cat!!!! i want them in a basket, and i want little bow ties, and to be on a rainbow, and in my bed–i just want us to roll around, but i can’t hug every cat :( :( :(
@Anonymous all good newS?