Local prosecutors are not making plans to follow New York City's decision to no longer prosecute people who are arrested for publicly smoking marijuana or low-level possession.

They said they've been paying attention to the issue but none have made concrete plans to change local enforcement policies. The arrests don't amount to a large portion of the cases they handle and changing enforcement in an upstate New York county is more difficult than in New York City, they say.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said he's preparing to meet with residents throughout the county to gauge public sentiment.

In Albany County, some residents may favor a policy similar to New York's, he said.

"Those in rural and suburban communities might have a different opinion," he said.

Under the city's new policy set to got into effect on Aug. 1, those caught smoking in public or with small amounts of the drug will receive a summons rather than be arrested. The policy does have exceptions for cases that are part of a larger public safety concern.

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance have said the policy change is in part a preparation for the likelihood that the state will legalize recreational marijuana at some point in the future and to deal with stark racial disparities in the city’s arrests for low-level marijuana offenses.

“These arrests waste an enormous amount of criminal justice resources for no punitive, rehabilitative, deterrent or other public safety benefit. And they do so in a racially disparate way that stigmatizes and disadvantages the arrestees,” a report by Vance’s office said.

Gov. Andrews Cuomo commissioned a study on legalization earlier this year. Its findings are expected to be released soon.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said he had canvassed his office on the issue. The county doesn’t handle a large amount of cases involving those charges, unlike New York City which handles thousands of them each year, he said.

Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove said through a spokesman that his office will continue to enforce the state’s drug laws.

The state’s two lowest level marijuana charges are possession of marijuana, which is a violation, and possession of marijuana in the fifth degree, which is a low-level misdemeanor. That includes smoking in public or possessing between 25 grams and two ounces of the drug.

According to state Department of Criminal Justice Services statistics, 247 people in the four-county Capital Region were arrested for fifth-degree marijuana possession in 2017. That was a jump compared to the 165 people in 2016. However, those statistics only capture arrests where the marijuana possession county was the most serious charge lodged against a suspect.

In Saratoga County, those who are arrested on the misdemeanor charge are often given an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, said Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen. That means if the defendant stays out of trouble for a set amount of time the charge is dismissed.

Soares pointed out that changing an enforcement policy in an upstate county would be much more difficult than in New York City. The city has one mayor and one police agency in charge of local law enforcement, unlike the overlapping and multiple jurisdictions of upstate New York counties.