New York City has seen the largest decline in cannabis related summons in the second quarter of this year than any other state with legal cannabis. There were 3,687 cannabis summons issued in the first quarter of the year. Then former Governor Cuomo, D, signed the recreational cannabis legalization bill at the end of March. Additionally, cannabis users can smoke in the same areas as tobacco users. New York is the first state to legalize public smoking and it seems to have greatly impacted the arrest and summons numbers according to the data. 

At the end of the second quarter for the year, cannabis arrests and summons numbered a total of eight. Six for possession over three ounces and two for unlawful sales. That’s more than a 99 percent decrease in just three months. Compared to other cities across the state, this decrease is unprecedented. This is before the legal cannabis retail market has gotten up and running in New York.

However, other cities across the country, which have also experienced cannabis legalization, haven’t experienced as great a decrease in arrests as New York City. 

Chicago

When Illinois legalized recreational cannabis in 2019 and sales began the following year, there were still around three thousand cannabis related arrests. While this has improved over the past year, a majority of the arrests were disproportionately targeting black people. This is something that has plagued cannabis arrests for years. Most arrests were for excessive possession and illegal sales.

Denver

Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational cannabis for adults, with Washington State following shortly afterwards. There has been almost a decade’s worth of data on how cannabis arrests and trends. In 2012, Denver saw 1548 cannabis possession arrests. This fell to 667 in 2013 and then 351 in 2014. Since legalization, there has been a steady decrease in excessive cannabis possession arrests.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, in 2012 there were only eight arrests for public consumption of cannabis. In 2013, the city saw 184 arrests and then 891 in 2014. While recreational cannabis legalized, public consumption did not. Smoking cannabis in public will result in a person’s arrest and charge for illegal smoking. 

Washington, D.C.

Finally, in the capital city, cannabis possession has decreased by roughly 50 percent since the city legalized recreational cannabis in 2014. However, because sales aren’t legal yet in the city, there are still large amounts of cannabis arrests. Between 2015 and 2019, D.C. sat 3,631 cannabis arrests. 900 of those alone were for public consumption. There has been recent concern from the capitol police that legal sales could increase the number of arrests and violence rather than decrease them. 

Future

It seems New York City has set a standard for cannabis arrests post-legalization. With numbers this low, hopefully other cities will see the benefit to public consumption and change their laws. Until then, recreational cannabis can only be consumed on private property in all other states besides New York.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.