BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Mayor Bill de Blasio said he can find no link between a decrease in marijuana arrests and a spike in drug-related murders, despite Police Commissioner Bill Bratton blaming the uptick directly on pot sales.
De Blasio said he saw no relationship between the two when asked at an unrelated press conference Tuesday, but he insisted that he and Bratton are “on the same page.”
The mayor's statement comes after Bratton faulted illegal marijuana sales last week for a 20 percent increase in city homicides.
“The seemingly innocent drug that’s being legalized around the country — in this city, people are killing each other over marijuana,” Bratton said.
In November, the commissioner and de Blasio announced NYPD officers would issue a ticket instead of arresting individuals caught with small amounts of the drug.
“Commissioner Bratton and I worked very closely together to develop the new policy which deemphasized arrest for minor possession of marijuana,” de Blasio said Tuesday. “We think that’s a very good policy. We did that together and believe in it with equal energy.
“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.”
