Manhattan DA to stop prosecuting minor pot cases

Slate - Manhattan’s district attorney announced his office would largely stop prosecuting people for possession or smoking marijuana in the borough as part of a broader effort to end the wide racial disparity in marijuana prosecutions. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said the marijuana prosecutions will halt starting Aug. 1, other than in cases where there is a clear public safety concern, which, he predicts, will reduce the yearly marijuana prosecutions in Manhattan from 5,000 to 200.