De Blasio: No Relationship Between Relaxed Pot Laws, Marijuana-Related Killings
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio responded Tuesday to comments by NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton tying an increase in violent crime in the city to marijuana.
"Marijuana just keeps showing up in some of the most violent acts in the city," Bratton said last week at a news conference, in which he revealed that there were 18 homicides in February, compared to 12 in the same month in 2014.
In November, de Blasio and Bratton announced that officers are now being allowed to issue simple summonses for certain low-level marijuana offenses, rather than making arrests.
De Blasio said Tuesday he does not see any relationship between a decrease in marijuana arrests and the increase in violent crime, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported. The mayor also insisted he and Bratton are on the same page.
"Commissioner Bratton and I worked very closely together to develop the new policy, which de-emphasized arrests for minor possession of marijuana," de Blasio said.
"I agree with the commissioner: There's a lot of violent crime related to marijuana that we're addressing every single day, and I agree with him on the other questions of legislation related to marijuana. So I think we're very much on the same page."
Officials from the mayor's office told The New York Times the recent violence is connected to marijuana dealers, not those who possess small quantities of the drug.