*By Jacqueline Corba*
The Manhattan District Attorney said until marijuana is legal in New York, the best he can do is stop prosecuting people who smoke pot to halt the "unfair" application of a law he said should change.
"Use of marijuana is clearly not going to stop," said the district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. "So, we need to legalize it."
Vance's office stopped [prosecuting](https://www.manhattanda.org/tomorrow-d-a-vance-ends-prosecution-of-marijuana-possession-and-smoking-cases/) marijuana possession this month. The new policy is expected to reduce marijuana prosecutions in the borough from 5,000 a year to fewer than 200.
[New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in June](https://www.wsj.com/articles/nypd-wont-arrest-most-people-caught-smoking-marijuana-in-public-1529376047) that beginning in September, the police would not arrest most people caught smoking marijuana in public and issue summonses instead.
Vance said de Blasio's policy is a welcome change, but it won't address the "significant racial disparity" in how the laws are applied.
"Clearly, the governor and the mayor are talking about marijuana in a way they weren't a year ago," Vance said. "By our office being active in raising the subject and taking the policy to its furthest, logical safe limit, this is bringing law enforcement to the table."
In a [report](https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/DANY-Report-on-the-Legalization-of-Recreational-Marijuana-Final.pdf) Vance's office published in May on the fairness and execution of marijuana policy, the D.A. found that 86 percent of those arrested and charged with criminal possession of marijuana in New York last year were people of color.
As part of his research, Vance said his office spent six months talking to officials in states that have legalized marijuana. One day, he said, New York can successfully follow their lead.
"I absolutely believe that if New York State legalizes the sale and possession of marijuana, that will have a big impact on states that are on the fence, and I think that is the right direction," Vance said.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-the-racial-disparity-among-marijuana-arrests-in-nyc).
As the US braces for the what's the follow after the end of the Title 43 pandemic-related restrictions, experts discuss the ramifications with Cheddar News.
A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger in the New York City subway has turned himself in on a manslaughter charge.
New York State Senator John Liu spoke with Cheddar News about Asian-American representation in politics, his bill to make Asian-American history mandatory in schools, and the ongoing hate crimes against his community. State Sen. Liu also discussed the debate over student loan forgiveness and gave his take on artificial intelligence in education.
The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing Thursday on the cannabis bill the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking — a first step toward what advocates hope will be a full vote on the Senate Floor.
New blood donations rules will allow sexually active gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships to give in the FDA guidelines ease decades-old restrictions put in place to protect the blood supply from HIV.
During a contentious CNN town hall Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump dug in on his lies about the 2020 election, downplayed the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and repeatedly insulted the woman whom a civil jury this week found him liable of sexually abusing and defaming.
Criminal defense attorney Tamara Holder joined Cheddar News to break down the charges that New York Republican Congressman George Santos is facing. "When the feds come after you -- and this is for anyone, a politician or not -- they generally have already built their case before they indict you," Holder said, regarding the timeline of Rep. Santos' arrest.
Officials in Missouri's largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.
The Biden administration on Thursday will begin denying asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through.
Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.
