“When it comes to health and community safety, treating drug possession cases outside of the criminal system is the right thing to do, and what New Orleans has asked for in the most recent election” - Danny Engelberg, OPD Chief of Trials
New policy says Orleans prosecutors should refuse all low-level drug charges except those for heroin and fentanyl
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office says it is adopting a policy of refusing all charges for possession of small amounts of drugs — which they define as “an amount that is intended only for personal use” — with the exception of heroin and fentanyl.
That means that while the New Orleans Police Department may continue to arrest individuals for small amounts of drugs, the DA’s office’s policy is not to prosecute them. The office said they had informed the NOPD about the policy, but “wouldn’t be able to speak to any decisions about NOPD’s plans to arrest or not arrest for certain offenses.”
Read the full article from The Lens here.
