Held on pot rap – weed it and weep

THE MANHATTAN district attorney’s decision to stop prosecuting minor marijuana offenses came too late for Allain Laporte.

The college student was collared in April after smoking a joint on a bench in Union Square — only six days after prosecutor Cy Vance Jr. announced his office’s new policy, effective Aug. 1.

Pot prosecutions in Manhattan were expected to plunge from roughly 5,000 per year to just 200 under the new plan to stop bringing low-level cases for pot smoking or possession.

Laporte, 24, was instead handcuffed in the park and brought to a local police stationhouse. He posed for a mug shot, had his fingerprints taken and was tossed into a cell while barefoot.

“I had no idea there were two undercover detectives across from me who waited till I almost finished the joint,” he said. “It was embarrassing.”

Laporte, like Vance, believes his arrest was related to his race. The young African-American thinks the NYPD focuses more on male, minority pot smokers when deciding to bring charges — and Vance agrees.

“The dual mission of the Manhattan DA’s office is a safer New York and a more equal justice system,” said Vance. “The ongoing arrest and prosecution of predominantly black and brown New Yorkers for smoking marijuana serves neither of those goals.”

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez plans a similar reduction in weed arrests, and Mayor de Blasio said the NYPD will revamp its policy on marijuana charges.

Laporte’s case was adjourned in contemplation of charges being dismissed and the case sealed if he avoids additional legal woes for six months.

“I feel as if it’s unfair to me, because based on my race or even my gender … I just felt as if I shouldn’t have gotten arrested for a minor misdemeanor such as smoking marijuana,” he said.