NYC cops allowed to use marijuana

According to a memo released Wednesday by the New York City Legal Department, NYPD officers can relax with weed, reports SILive.

In a memo, the New York City Legal Department instructed the NYPD to stop all scheduled and pre-tests for marijuana.

“The Department will continue to screen staff for marijuana if there are signs of deterioration in health. We are reviewing our current policy in light of this directive.”

The policy change is in response to the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act passed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. In 2021, he legalized adult marijuana use in New York State.

On the subject: Legal marijuana in New York: what innovations to expect in 2022

The City is reviewing its current marijuana testing practice in light of changes to New York State law. As far as the NYPD is concerned, this process is currently ongoing. But for now, nothing has changed. Communications between the Legal Department and city agencies are confidential, so they declined to comment further.

Prior to this memorandum, New York City employees, whose jobs are regulated by the federal government, could not smoke marijuana.

It is still banned at the federal level, although it is legal in the state of New York.

Government employees such as the FDNY, NYPD and MTA fell into this category. It is not yet known if the decision to end marijuana testing will be extended to other City agencies.

“There is no marijuana test that determines the current state of intoxication. It is not possible to determine through a test whether an employee tested positive for marijuana due to misuse at work. Or he smoked during legally protected non-working hours,” the note said.

However, if a police station suffers from marijuana use in the workplace, officers will be sent for testing.