Apparently officers didn’t get the memo, issued by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in September, ordering cops to stop making unlawful arrests.

One councilman says if they did get it, they’r totally ignoring the order and doing the exact opposite:

“This data shows that Commissioner Kelly’s memorandum is not being enforced,” said Council Member Jumaane Williams. “For instance, the 240% increase in arrests in the last week of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010 is highly troubling. It also seems that much of this rise is occurring in police precincts which cover communities of more color, such as the 67th and the 70th in my district. What these statistics prove is that legislative action is needed to codify the memorandum once and for all.”

You know things are bad when new laws have to be drafted to get the cops to follow the old ones. (Photo: Andreas Steltner/flickr)

If you have any interest in the wild forest lands of Russia where “representatives of non-traditional pursuits” (musicians, etc.) go to smoke weed in the summer or, perhaps, the far-away guarded territory where Gazprom gas super-corp and Putin are going to build a massive, opulent resort complex — it’s the same place, this place right here. Photographer Dmitry Chistoprudov has been hoarding the photos he took on a perilous trek to the far-South Russian Republic of Altai, until now.

Where’s this? In the middle of Asia, “at the junction of Siberian taiga, steppes of Kazakhstan and semi-deserts of Mongolia.” It’s far. The roads aren’t bad, actually, it’s the guards around the “federal” roads, “private land” and lonely helicopter pads that are problematic. Yet, on they trekked, as the paved roads tapered off to dirty paths and rocking bridges and on, onwards until they hit glorious, picturesque mountain land, scattered with brittle remnants of long-abandoned villages. There, Lev the local horse breeder tells them about Putin’s visit that one time. Also, there are fields of weed. Apparently, the Altainians don’t care for it.

“Even the locusts won’t eat it. Only, those guys, the… erm… musicians, that come here ever summer.” So enjoy your daydream of an undisturbed, hazy gateway before the opulent mega-yuppies usurp and mow it away.

What exactly triggered the reduction is still unclear, although there’s a few theories. For one, it’s believed that the good herb “leads to an improvement in the psychological wellbeing of young adult males,” by way of its anti-depressive properties. This is also presumably due to weed making music sound better and video games funner to play.

Another contributor factor could be also be most damning one once the booze industry hears about it: Legalization leads to a decrease in alcohol consumption. So, smoke up and next time you see someone acting suicidal, text them some encouragement and the number to your delivery service, it will help a lot more than some hotline.

These numbers are of particular importance because it shows an upward trend from a mere 12% approval rating in 1969 to 30% in 2000 and 46% in 2010. If it continues like this, politicians may even consider endorsing it.

Check it out in the massive, 260-arists roster of the “Le Luz De Jesus 25th Anniversary Show”, Various Artists, Oct 7-30, Nov 4-27 La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, Jumaane Williams, the City Councilman who was briefly detained by police for being black at the West Indian Parade held a press conference at One Police Plaza with other elected officials thanking Kelly. For what? Following the law? (Photo: yojimbot/flickr)

In many instances, it happens when a suspect is merely following a cop’s orders. That of course explains why there was over 50,000 pot-related busts last year alone. With small time weed busts surging, this couldn’t have come at a better time. (Click image to enlarge)
 

As you can imagine, these latest findings also provide more reasons to avoid the Midwest at all costs:

By region, the percentage of marijuana arrests was highest in the Midwest (63.5 percent of all drug arrests) and southern regions (57 percent of all drug arrests) of the United States and lowest in the west, where pot prosecutions comprised only 39 percent of total drug arrests.

Here’s a handy graph to visual the frequency of the scariness. And yes you read that correctly: 97.5 people an hour are arrested on weed-related charges!