Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Manhattan DA Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. are considering policy reform that would stop prosecution of most marijuana-related offenses. The potential changes aim to reducing the disparity between arrest rates of people of color and those of whites. While this is an encouraging and progressive step, it is merely addressing a symptom of the systemic issue of discriminatory police practices.

The new policy in Brooklyn would essentially exempt from prosecution anyone smoking marijuana without creating a public disturbance or without a recent criminal record. This change comes in the wake of a New York Times-published report that shows black people are eight times as likely to be arrested for marijuana-related charges than white people, and Hispanic people are five times as likely.

The NYPD explained this disparity in a recent City Council hearing by claiming that they receive more 911 and 311 calls from black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and although a New York Times analysis of police data agreed with the NYPD’s claim, it doesn’t tell the full story. Several experts told the Times that the higher volume of calls from black and Hispanic neighborhoods results from the lack of alternatives: “In a privately owned Upper East Side apartment, residents can call the building manager if marijuana smoke is wafting through the windows or air ducts. In public housing projects in Brooklyn, residents can’t get help from building staff members for major maintenance issues, much less for marijuana smoke.”

Others, like Columbia Law School professor Jeffrey Fagan, argue that the higher arrest rates in communities of color are simply driven by higher police presence. “More cops in neighborhoods means they’re more likely to encounter somebody smoking,” he told reporters earlier this week.
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It’s not just DAs taking action. Mayor de Blasio has promised significant marijuana policy reform from the city government in the next 30 days. On an even larger scale, New York governor candidate Cynthia Nixon‘s platform includes the legalization of marijuana, which has pushed incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo — vehemently opposed to marijuana legalization in the past — to reconsider his stance and “make a decision based on the facts”.

Everyone seems to be tiptoeing around the real issue here: the unequal treatment of people of color by the police. Yes, this specific policy discussion revolves around marijuana reform, but the driving force behind the reform is an ugly and unfortunate disparity in arrest rates based on the color of people’s skin. It’s exciting to see the city’s officials taking action to correct this, but the issue will persist until the policy changes address the root cause of the issue, not one of its symptoms.