Global Ganja Report

Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin on May 16 approved a class-action lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk tactics, saying she was disturbed by the city's "deeply troubling apathy towards New Yorkers' most fundamental constitutional rights." The decision provides potential legal recourse for hundreds of thousands have been caught up in the department's aggressive stop-and-frisk practice, which has resulted in hundreds of illegal cannabis arrests and critics say unjustly targets Blacks and Latinos.

On May 5, the flagship New York City event in the Global Marijuana March movement returned to its traditional home of Washington Square Park after an absence of several years, with revelers gathering there at "high" noon—and then marching up to Union Square for a rally. Since Union Square has been since the start of spring a focal point for the Occupy Wall Street movement, marijuana marchers and Occupy activists merged and mingled there. Among their common demands was an end to the NYPD's aggressive stop-and-frisk policy which has resulted in hundreds of illegal cannabis arrests. One slogan written on the pavement in multi-colored chalk read: "Occupy Justice, Stop Stop-and-Frisk." Speakers also demanded freedom for Dana Beal, the mastermind of the Global Marijuana March who is now serving time on a cannabis charge in Nebraska. (Global Ganja Report on the scene)

The Daily News on April 9 couldn't resist two sophomoric jokes in the lead line of its story on New York's governor axing chances for passage of a medicinal cannabis bill this year: "Gov. Cuomo provided a buzz-kill Monday to a new legislative push to legalize medicinal marijuana that is being fired up." Andrew Cuomo told the newspaper that legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has "tremendous risks," and is unlikely to be taken up by the Legislature this year. "I understand the benefits, but there are also risks, and I think the risks outweigh the benefits at this point," Cuomo said, reiterating the position he took during his 2010 campaign for governor.

A new study finds that NYPD cops in the Bronx made hundreds of unlawful cannabis arrests over a five-month period last year—despite a warning from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The study, released April 2 by the advocacy group Bronx Defenders, shows that illegal stops and searches are an "epidemic" in the Bronx, said the group's executive director Robin Steinberg.

The "Westies"—Manhattan's "Irish Mafia," notorious for running loan-sharking and extortion rackets in the West Side neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen 20 years ago—have suddenly resurfaced with a highly sophisticated scheme using a fleet of private jets to smuggle high-grade cannabis from Northern California to cities across the country, authorities told the New York Post.

Ramarley Graham, 18, was shot and killed by a NYPD officer in the  Williamsbridge section of The Bronx on the afternoon of Feb. 2 after entering an apartment as undercover officers pursued him. Department spokesman Paul J. Browne said there was "no evidence that he was armed" when the narcotics officer shot him once in the upper left chest. Police found a small bag of cannabis in the toilet at the home he entered after the pursuit. He was killed in the bathroom, apparently while trying to dispose of the stash. Police said they had followed him after witnessing a drug purchase (presumably cannabis), and said they thought he had a gun. 

Records show New York City police arrested nearly 50,700 on low-level pot charges last year—despite a drop after officers were instructed not to use tactics that rights groups decried as trickery. State Division of Criminal Justice figures show arrests for the lowest marijuana misdemeanor actually rose slightly in 2011. The Drug Policy Alliance obtained the statistics and provided them to the Associated Press.

Arrests for low-level pot possession dropped in the weeks after New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly warned officers not to make arrests for small quantities found in pockets or bags, according to new data released Dec. 7. Kelly issued the internal order Sept. 19 after claims from civil rights groups that officers were wrongly arresting people in a state where personal possession is punishable with a fine. There are more arrests on cannabis charges—about 50,000 a year—than any other crime in New York City. Pot cases account for about one of every seven that turn up in criminal courts.