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Monday, August 29, 2011

Koppell Backs Measure to Help Potheads



Councilman Oliver Koppell and his buddies in the City Council have found another great cause to get excited about -- stopping the police from busting pot smokers. In New York, carrying a small, concealed amount of marijuana — less than 25 grams, or seven-eighths of an ounce — is a violation, punishable by a $100 fine. But under current state law, the violation becomes a criminal offense when the drug is brought into the open, even when this happens only after the police ask people they stop to empty their pockets or purses. The Council resolution, co-sponsored by Koppell, supports an effort in the state legislature to reclassify the public display of small amounts of pot as a violation. What will they think of next?

18 comments:

  1. Does Council Member Koppell have many pothead constituents?

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  2. Some recreational drugs may not be so addictive, but they do cause physical damage!

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  3. Veeeery silly resolution by some veeeery silly politicians!

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  4. He's too cute for words.

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  5. That man is a do-nothing careerist politician.

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  6. I just read that stoners may have found key to keeping thin! . . . The Daily News is reporting on a study that says marijuana smokers are less likely to be obese than non-smokers.

    Maybe Oliver Koppell is just trying to help us stay slim?

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  7. YIPEE!!!

    marijuana
    marihuana
    mariguana
    cannabis

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  8. Maybe there's a Deadhead assemblyman behind this?

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  9. He and the rest of the City Council should really be concentrating on all the money that fatties are costing our health care system.

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  10. It's about time you wrote about State Senator Jose Serrano and the bike lanes

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  11. I have lived in Riverdale long enough to know that Councilman Oliver Koppell is an odd bird. He and his friend Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz seem to have a strong fear that someone new will come along to replace them. Both of these dinosaurs take themselves way too seriously and neither one seems to possess a sense of humor. The way they act, you'd think that they occupy high political offices that are way above their actual status.

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  12. So, Ray Kelly supports the exact same thing Koppell does.

    http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/sep/23/police-commissioner-calls-nypd-stop-improper-marijuana-arrests/

    Ergo, by Tony's logic, Ray Kelly is supporting potheads and is worthy of our derision.

    I mean, Tony wouldn't just be attacking Oliver for the sake of attacking Oliver, right?

    What will they think of next?

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  13. incessant yapping

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  14. Here's some marijuana news from the Netherlands:

    The Dutch government has just announced that it will move to classify high-potency cannabis alongside hard drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, the latest step in the country's ongoing reversal of its liberal policies.

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  15. Regarding the new Dutch move on cannabis sales, here's how the BBC reported it last Friday:


    BBC News | 7 October 2011

    DUTCH TO RECLASSIFY HIGH-STRENGTH CANNABIS

    By Anna Holligan, BBC News, Amsterdam

    The famous cannabis-selling coffee shops of the Netherlands are facing new tighter restrictions.
    The Dutch government is reclassifying high-strength cannabis to put it in the same category as hard drugs.
    It says the amount of the main active chemical in the drug, THC, has gone up, making it far more potent than a generation ago.
    It means the coffee shops will be forced to take the popular, high-strength varieties off their shelves.
    Dutch politicians say high-strength cannabis, known as "skunk", is more dangerous than it was before.
    In the future, anything containing more than 15% THC will be treated the same way as hard drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.
    The move is a big blow to the coffee shops - and means they will have to replace about 80% of their stock with weaker varieties.
    Marc Josemans, who runs a cafe in Maastricht, says he believes that the new tough approach is being driven by the increasingly influential far-right in Dutch politics.
    "You immediately can taste the difference. Everything which is considered unusual for them - they call it 'left hobbies' and under this name they want to ban all 'left hobbies', like using cannabis," he told the BBC.
    The move means that the Netherlands' traditional tolerance of soft drugs is to become a thing of the past.
    The ban on the high-strength "skunk" is expected to be introduced next year, when police will start doing random checks in the cafes.
    From next year, the Dutch government also plans to ban tourists from entering coffee shops across the country.

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