Policy for marijuana prosecutions to change
ALBANY, N.Y. >> Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced effective Dec.1, 2018, the Albany County D. A.’s Office will no longer prosecute simple possession of marijuana cases.
Specifically, the office will not prosecute cases solely involving simple possession of fewer than two ounces of marijuana. The office will also not prosecute fifthdegree unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal possession of marijuana.
In addition, the office will seek dismissals for cases currently pending where those are the lone charges.
The policy was developed following a number of public meetings to gather input from citizens across the county. In conjunction with the public meetings, the office sought the opinion of residents via their website.
The vast majority of constituents said they wanted to see a shift in the legal status of recreational adult use marijuana and in the enforcement of existing laws.
Given the near- certain impending changes in the law, and given the sea change in society’s views of the issue, the D.A.’s office feels it is no longer the best use of its resources to prosecute lowlevel marijuana offenses.
“As the war on marijuana comes to an end, the District Attorney’s Office has an important role [to] play in the process. In order to ease the transition into market regulated marijuana, we will be adopting a new policy on how to deal with low-level marijuana cases in courts throughout Albany County,” Soares said. “We will also be strengthening our vehicular crimes DWI policies to include Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, to best serve the public safety needs of our county residents and the thousands of drivers who traverse the many thoroughfares in and out of our jurisdiction on a daily basis.”
Hence, the addition of DWAI by Drugs will be added to the current official policy for handling misdemeanor DWI files in Albany County.
When a person is charged with a marijuana offense in connection with a DWAI-drugs charge, the marijuana offense will still be aggressively prosecuted along with the DWAI. In addition, the policy change will not apply to anyone openly smoking or consuming cannabis while in a vehicle or in public.
Other caveats to the policy include smoking or consuming cannabis in the presence of a child or children.
The D. A.’s Office will also begin accepting applications for its Clean Slate program for expunging past marijuana convictions through CPL 440.10 applications.
The criteria for consideration will be the same criteria under their policy: they will only consent to expunging of covered marijuana- only, simple possession offenses with no special aggravating factors.