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After failing to pass a progressive adult-use cannabis bill, the Legislature instead closed out the year’s session with a decriminalization measure.

The bill includes language that will clear some past criminal convictions, but critics are already warning that the measure may not do much at all to address racially motivated policing. And historically, New York has seen some of the highest racial disparities in cannabis arrests nationwide.

“We know that when there is a choice, law enforcement will continue to criminalize communities of color,” said Kassandra Frederique, the New York state director at the Drug Policy Alliance. “The continued racial disparities show that.”

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