New York City: Where Smoking Pot Can Cost You $100 - and Your Kids

a Bronx woman whose 10-year-old son and 8-year-old niece were taken away after a police search of her apartment (based on suspicions of drug dealing) turned up 10 grams of marijuana, which she said belonged to her boyfriend. In New York, possessing less than 25 grams of pot (about nine-tenths of an ounce) is not even a misdemeanor (provided you do not display it "in public view"); it's a citable offense similar to a traffic violation, punishable by a $100 fine. But it was enough for ACS to put Harris' son in foster care for more than a week. Meanwhile, her niece, whom she was raising as a foster child, was taken away for more than a year. ACS closed the investigation with no finding of neglect. ... the trauma of separating children from their parents is bound to cause far more damage than allowing them to be raised by people who smoke pot from time to time.