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Medical Marijuana-Hating Assemblyman Caught With Marijuana Gets Charges Dismissed
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 26, 2013
Modified Apr 26, 2013
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 26, 2013
Modified Apr 26, 2013
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NY State Assemblyman Steve Katz, who was arrested for alleged pot possession last month after voting against the legalization of medical marijuana last year, apparently won't be forced to feel the full weight of his hypocrisy: an upstate judge has dismissed his case thanks to a plea deal.
In March, Katz was pulled over at a car stop in Albany, and officers found less than 25 grams of pot in his vehicle. But the charge—a violation carrying up to $285 in fines—will be dropped, provided Katz completes 20 hours of community service and refrains from law-breaking for a year. "We said from the beginning that this would be quickly resolved, and it was. And we’re very happy this is done,” Katz's lawyer, Susan Chana Lask, told reporters yesterday. “[Katz is] more interested in doing his work for the people and the state as a civil servant and moving forward."
Of course, Katz's "work for the people" has included serving on the Assembly's Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, voting against legalizing medical marijuana last June and, just a few days before his arrest, releasing a statement pushing for the "struggle against illegal drug culture and the abuse of narcotics." But, hey, all that stuff's just for the little people, right? Oh, and along with the drug violation, Katz was ticketed for driving 15 m.p.h. over the speed limit, but that charge was also reduced to a lesser parking violation. O, to be a politician...
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Albany
hypocrisy
marijuana
state assembly
steve katz
upstate
Rebecca Fishbein
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