Excessive Force Used in Marijuana Arrests

By Tony Newman
Posted on September 10, 2007, Printed on December 21, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers//62167/

In 2006, nearly 32,000 New Yorkers were busted for possessing marijuana -- 87 percent of whom were either black or Hispanic, despite equal drug use among blacks and whites.

Here are photos of one of those arrests. Eight cops, both plainclothes and in uniform, are making this arrest on Gay St. in the West Village. Is this the best use of police officers' time? Will this have an impact on marijuana use in the city? Is this how we want our tax-dollars spent?

Photos provided by the William Moses Kunstler Fund

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Tony Newman is the director of media relations for the Drug Policy Alliance.

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View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers//62167/