Sherwin Rogers faced up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in April to first-degree marijuana possession, but yesterday he was sentenced to just three months in jail. Considering the circumstances of his arrest, one might say he got off easy—after a shootout at the Special Moments Day Care in East Flatbush, police found 10 pounds of weed that Mr. Rogers had stashed in the basement. For those moments when he needed a special time out. more ›

Every year, hundreds of NYC parents busted for pot possession—the vast majority of them recreational smokers—get caught in bitter legal battles with the city to keep their children. Parents with no criminal records routinely lose custody of their children after a small level marijuana bust, even in cases where the police didn't press charges. In an excellent article in today's Times, one Penelope Harris talks about how her son and niece were taken away after police searched her home and found a quantity of marijuana so small they couldn't even charge her with a misdemeanor. more ›

Fed up with Mayor Bloomberg's aggressive marijuana arrest policies, a group of community leaders, City Council members, and other concerned citizens held a demonstration yesterday on the block where Mayor Bloomberg resides on the Upper East Side. As we've repeatedly noted, NYC is the "marijuana arrest capital of the world," and the number of low-level pot arrests during the Bloomberg administration is greater than in the 12 years of Mayor Koch, plus the four years of Mayor Dinkins, plus the first two years of Mayor Giuliani combined. more ›

There must be a lot of pot farms sprinkled nearby New York! In the same month as police found a Staten Island grow house with 376 plants and a New Jersey man with 58 plants, the NYPD and the DEA have busted a pot farm spread in and around seven houses in Wurtsboro with roughly 8,000 marijuana plants. According to police, the crop is worth about $8 million on the street. Good thing we're the pot arrest capital of the world, eh? more ›

On Friday night, a Westchester County Police officer pulled over a 2010 Dodge Avenger for a traffic violation on the Cross County Expressway. When the cop approached the vehicle, "he detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle" and called for another cop and a drug-sniffing dog. Sal, the narcotic detection canine, thought there were drugs and cops found 39.5 pounds of marijuana in the car's trunk. NJ resident Barringto Hylton, 30, was charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the first degree and, since his 2-year-old and 4-year-old kids were also in the car, endangering the welfare of a child. more ›

After NJ authorities harvested a $10 million pot bust across five towns, neighbors have been offering up their views on living next to the illegal operation. One man, who lived next to a grow house with over 500 marijuana plants, told the Star-Ledger, "Living here on this block I barely know my neighbors on each side. We don't have block parties or anything like that, so I'd be shocked if anyone else knew about this either." Coming soon: DEA-sponsored block parties? more ›

A 22-year-old Pennsvile, NJ man was busted after his text message inquiring about some pot mistakenly went to a police officer. According to Today's Sunbeam, John Milligan "misdialed a number, getting instead the cell phone of Cpl. Christopher Pew, a veteran of the Salem force... Police Chief John Pelura III said Friday that the off-duty corporal did not know the suspect or how serious his request was, but took advantage of the situation by setting up a sting to arrest him." While the exact text was not disclosed, Pelura said, "Basically in the text, Milligan described what vehicle he was driving and where they would meet." Milligan, as well as 20-year-old Kelly Reilly were charged with allegedly loitering to commit a controlled dangerous substance offense. In other pot-texting news, two Worcester, MA siblings were arrested after sending a text offering "pink stars" (Ecstasy) and "midz" (pot) while an Orange County, CA teacher was arrested when a student's mother found texts saying the student was smoking pot with the teacher. more ›

If you've got a suspended license, is it the best idea to be driving with 9 pounds of pot? Federal officials tell the Daily News that a drug runner's "sloppiness" on the way to a drug sale in Queens helped them bust a huge operation smuggling Canadian-grown pot into the United States. Apparently the feds have "seized 50,000 pounds of pot"—street value, $150 million—"and arrested 10 people in the scheme, which used hidden compartments in cars to smuggle weed across the border" over the past six years. The Canadian "masterminds" were arraigned in federal court and face 20 years in prison if found guilty while eight people who "allegedly transported, packaged and distributed the drugs from the Queens home" face 10 years if found guilty. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the many pounds of pot, unlike previous pot busts. more ›

Another pot farm bites the dust: A small fire in Queens led the Fire Department to over 200 marijuana plants growing inside a home. more ›