"High" tolerance: NYC on the road to decriminalizing pot

Pot arrests and seizures are plummeting as low-level offenders duck jail and cops ease off dealers, who are racking up record profits, police sources say.

Gov. Cuomo vowed in January to wipe out the lowest marijuana charge — fifth-degree criminal possession — for those caught lighting up in public or flashing their stash.

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The crime, which currently calls for an arrest if the pot is in public view or weighs more than 25 grams, accounted for 149,951 of 155,048 marijuana busts in New York City since 2010 — 99.2 percent of the total.

Had Cuomo’s plan been in place last year, it could have eliminated 39,257 of the 40,661 arrests.

But even without the Cuomo proposal yet etched in law, an unprecedented reduction in enforcement has already begun.

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