*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).
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other Fed officials who have called for a more urgent approach. In remarks in Providence, Rhode Island, Powell noted that there are risks to both of the Fed’s goals of seeking maximum employment and stable prices. His approach is in sharp contrast to some members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who are pushing for faster cuts.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the American media landscape have led to the suspension of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
