New York softened penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and created a process for erasing certain past offenses in a state law that went into place Wednesday. The legislation also turns an unlawful marijuana possession statute into a violation similar to a traffic ticket, instead of a criminal charge. “For too long communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana and have suffered the life-long consequences of an unfair marijuana conviction,” said Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a statement issued Wednesday.
