Arrests for THC oil possession must stop: Pols
Borough electeds say NYPD’s ‘overzealous’ enforcement goes against new pot policy
BY NAEISHA ROSE
City Councilmen Rory
Lancman and Donovan Richards
issued a letter last week
to NYPD Commissioner James
O’Neill addressing what they
considered “overzealous” marijuana
enforcement of vaping
THC oil or possession of the
substance, according to the
elected officials.
In the letter, the elected officials
found it to be problematic
that the NYPD was arresting
people allegedly in possession
of vape pens with THC oil —
which is an extract from the
marijuana plant — rather than
issuing criminal summonses.
This comes months after the
city announced that low-level
marijuana use would result in
citations in June, according to
City Hall. This also comes after
that new policy was officially
implemented Sept. 1, according
to the elected officials.
“On Sept. 1, 2018, the NYPD
implemented new enforcement
policies for low-level marijuana
use, instructing officers to issue
a criminal summons instead of
making an arrest in most cases
of public smoking,” Lancman
and Richards wrote in a joint
statement released Nov. 28.
“Nonetheless, we are advised
that the NYPD is still arresting
people for possession of THC oil
or possession of vape pens with
alleged THC oil inside. If anything,
this form of use seems
like a safer and less intrusive
way of consuming marijuana
than traditional smoking.”
In addition to the arrests,
the charges against those allegedly
using or possessing
THC oil is being treated as a
AP Photo
Class A misdemeanor, which
is a similar statute for people
charged with low-level heroin
possession, rather than the
lesser B-misdemeanor, which
is a criminal possession of
marijuana, according to the
elected officials.
“Any criminal charge for a
Class A misdemeanor could
be punishable for up to one
year in jail, three years probation
or a $1,000 fine,” said
Timothy Rountree, the Attorney
in-Charge at the Legal Aid
Society’s Criminal Defense
Practice in Queens.
While that may be the worst
case scenario for people that already
have a criminal history,
if this is an individual’s first
arrest there is the possibility to
mitigate the charge, according
to Rountree.
Julia Burke, another lawyer
at Legal Aid in Queens,
has come across THC oil arrests
in the past and said she
has even had cases that were
prosecuted against her clients
without labs being used to test
the substance.
Burke said some of her clients
were arrested for alleged
possession even though the
substance was odorless and
could be CBD oil, which is an
extract from industrial hemp
and doesn’t produce the high
that THC oil derived from
marijuana does, according to
healthyhempoil.com.
City considering NE Queens for NYC Ferry service
BY MARK HALLUM
The city Economic Development
Corporation will consider
a long-advocated expansion
into waterways along the transit
deserts of northeast Queens,
City Councilman Paul Vallone
announced Dec. 10.
Vallone said he received
a letter from EDC Precinct
James Patchett, who indicated
that the survey portion of the
Ferry Feasibility Study that
took place in the fall showed
high demand for service to possible
terminals at Citi Field Marina
and Fort Totten.
“We will certainly consider
all the feedback received along
the Queens waterfront, including
the locations outlined in
your letter: Citi Field Marina
and Fort Totten,” Patchett said.
“We will do our due diligence
through this study to determine
sites that are most feasible based
on ridership demand, ferry navigability,
and route planning.”
The EDC received 3,000
responses to surveys. The remainder
of the study will examine
water depth, population
density, existing transit options
and travel time comparisons
between different modes
of available transportation, according
to Vallone, who urged
constituents to make their
voices heard when the ferry
survey launched.
“While the city has announced
and established ferry
service in other areas of the
city, transportation deserts
like northeast Queens have
been overlooked,” Vallone
said. “I have advocated for a
Willets Point ferry and also
supported studying northeast
Queens’ shoreline for other
feasible locations due to the
demand from local communities,
economic opportunities
and the lack of transportation
alternativ es. Ferry service in
northeast Queens could provide
a new, affordable way
to travel between waterfront
communities in NYC.”
Vallone has advocated for
the expansion of ferry service
A new bill will require the city to explore alternative forms of
energy to power ferries. Courtesy of NYC Ferry
in his district since the city
launched the program in 2017
and ferries have proven popular
throughout the city as an
alternative to subways, buses
and trains.
Fare for the NYC Ferry, subsidized
by the city government,
matches that of the subways
and buses at $2.75.
Vallone’s district has only
two options for rail transit:
the Long Island Rail Road’s
Port Washington line and the
7 train, with the former costing
commuters a premium of over
$7 to reach Woodside or Manhattan.
The 7 train has historically
been unreliable.
But the city has been looking
to Queens to provide ferry
service since the beginning of
the program, which piloted on
a route between Manhattan
and the Rockaways.
Since then, NYC Ferry has
expanded rapidly all along the
East River waterfront between
the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn
and Manhattan.
In September, a new line
connecting Gantry Plaza
with the Lower East Side
started moving commuters
between the boroughs in just
32 minutes.
Cameron Clark, the senior
vice president of NYC Ferry,
told TimesLedger at the time
that the new route will, to some
extent, expand mass transit options
for those in close proximity
to stops along the No. 7 train
and those who will likely be
affected by the L train’s partial
shutdown in April.
Clark confirmed at the time
that consideration for expanding
service over to far-flung
northeast Queens was could
be the next for NYC Ferry now
that the six main routes had
successfully launched.
TIMESLEDGER,4 DEC. 14-20, 2018 TIMESLEDGER.COM