MARIJUANA DECRIMIINALIZED IN NYC

(AP)" Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday proposed cutting the penalty for public possession of a small amount of marijuana, a change in state law that would defuse some criticism of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy in minority communities.

 According to advocates for decriminalizing it, 14 states, including Oregon and Massachusetts, have lowered penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana to civil fines in a movement that began in the 1970s. Since 1996, 16 states, including California, have legalized its use for medical conditions, though New York has not.

New York City prosecutors and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, whose offices handled almost 50,000 such criminal cases last year, endorsed the Democratic governor's plan. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the bill largely mirrors the city police directive issued last year for officers to issue violations, not misdemeanors, "for small amounts of marijuana that come into open view during a search..."

SO BLOOMBERG, LIGHT UP BUT DON'T CHASE THE THIRST WITH TOO MUCH SODA?--LOL --(JUST A THOUGHT)