MARIJUANA

In snail-like, incremental moves, Mayor Bill de Blasio is gradually fulfilling some of his campaign promises, none more welcomed than his newly announced policy not to arrest those in possession of arrests among small amounts of marijuana. This change is a monumental step toward reducing the number of Black and Latino youths, who make up the majority of those arrested. Instead, those found with marijuana will be issued a summons, which has a few factors that may need further amendment.

We know that young people of color are among the majority arrested because under the current policy, race is disclosed. Under the summons system, the race of those apprehended is not identified. We agree with those who are calling for more transparency to assess the effectiveness of the new policy.

The new policy will go into effect Nov. 19, and with more transparency, we can determine if the system begins to reduce the number of arrests as well as who those violators are.

WORKFARE

This plan is another campaign promise from de Blasio, and it too has been applauded for at least beginning a process to lift up the thousands of New Yorkers who are mired in poverty. His plan to replace workfare with education and job training is, indeed, a noble intention. But if folks are being removed from workfare without any appreciable change in their conditions, then the cure may be worse than the affliction. It makes little sense to take people off the dole if they will only plummet deeper into a state of poverty and homelessness.

Unless those no longer dependent on workfare are given the means to lift themselves, i.e., more education, child care and health care, during the transition, their situations become even more desperate and deplorable. Any change, particularly during the interim, must be carefully weighed, assuring the poor of relief, not further endangerment.

DETROIT

Finally, there is a bit of good news from Detroit. The 16-month-long bankruptcy proceedings are over, but it may take a few more rounds before the aggrieved there can truly exhale. To reach this agreement, pensioners settled for a 4.5 percent cut in their payments. The so-called grand bargain that provides funds and thereby protects the valuables at the Detroit Institute of Arts is also part of the deal.

How all of this will play out in the coming days is left for conjecture, though in the short run, the more than 20,000 expecting monthly checks of whatever amount are comforted. But unless the city finds a way to open up the clogged revenue streams, more days in court loom ahead.

LOW VOTER TURNOUT

The report of low voter turnout across the nation comes as no surprise. Midterm elections have traditionally suffered from a lack of interest by the American electorate. But this recent turnout is the worst since 1942, with less than a third of registered voters participating. And New Yorkers were no exception.

A variety of interests have been cited for this problem, and we shouldn’t overlook the devastating efforts to suppress the vote of minorities by the GOP and its surrogates. Something also needs to be done about the current state of campaign financing, which practically guarantees victory for those with abundant war chests.

It may be rewarding to examine the effectiveness of early voting and the mail ballot system, which appears to be working in some states.

FERGUSON

Both protesters and officers of the criminal justice system in Ferguson, Mo., nervously await the grand jury verdict in the shooting death of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson. In the event of no indictment of the officer, the police force appears to be as militarized as ever to prevent any rioting from protesters.

A few weeks ago, there were apparent leaks from the grand jury indicating that Wilson was not going to be indicted, but those reports proved to be not credible. Anyway, even if an indictment is rendered, there is still the trial, which may be the only way to square the police account with what eyewitnesses saw.