Staring November 19th anyone who possess less than 24 grams of marijuana in public will be given a summonses. The change comes after elect mayor DeBlasio and new police commissioner Bratton progress to fix community and police relations.

Before this change, any public possession of marijuana would be considered a misdemeanor. This created disproportionate arrest rates within the minorities. Same as the disproportionate rates of stop and frisk. Even though statistically, data shows that white males are more likely to smoke marijuana then minority groups.

But does this move really make any difference? No, there still will be disproportionate arrests because marijuana is not the problem. I’m sure if we look at the data next year, it will show the same statistics as now. Minorities will be summoned for possession at higher rates.

Now, this will allow more resources for the NYPD as citations are less time consuming then arrests. But what we do with this time is important. With more free time comes more written citations. Because officers won’t be spending the time on processing an arrest and the paper work that comes with it.

Will police officers increase the number of stops for possession? That’s is a possibility, which could backfire in the NYPD. But only time will tell. With the possibility of increased citations we might widen the gap even more between the racial disparities.