New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill into law decriminalizing marijuana use in the state.
At the same time, a process is being created to expunge low-level marijuana arrest records over the years for thousands of people, according to Buffalo News.
“By providing individuals who have suffered the consequences of an unfair marijuana conviction with a path to have their records expunged and by reducing draconian penalties, we are taking a critical step forward in addressing a broken and discriminatory criminal justice process,’’ Cuomo said.
The bill is seen as an appeasement to the state’s Democratically-controlled legislature that sought earlier this year to legalize pot use statewide completely.
The decriminalization bill was approved in late June by the Senate 39-23 and by the Assembly in a 94-44 margin, local media reported.
New York is the 16th state nationwide to decriminalize marijuana use in some form.
Anyone found to be in possession of less than two ounces of weed will be issued a citation instead of criminal misdemeanor charge, under the new law.
The law is set to go into effect in 30 days.
