County Board Decriminalizes Small Amounts of Marijuana (Chicago, Mark: homes, live)

[jwaiter]

In a move that's caught almost everyone by surprise, the Cook County Board yesterday voted to decriminalize marijuana in very small amounts in unincorporated parts of Cook County. Under the legislation passed, sheriffs can arrest someone possessing less than 10 grams of marijuana on misdemeanor charges or simply issue a $200 ticket. The measure was introduced by Commissioner Earlean Collins who admitted personal motivations: her grandson was arrested for having a small amount of marijuana. Collins, though, made a salient point: arresting marijuana offenders is crowding jails. According to the Sun-Times (http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1678061,ordinance-ticket-pot-offenders-072109.article - broken link), she said:

“They got my grandson...he had a half of joint in the car. They stopped him. They took him to the police station. They impounded his car and let him out the next morning. Why do that? A lot of kids make a mistake, have a little marijuana, and they can avoid going to jail or court.”

Sheriff Tom Dart was caught by surprise, saying he expected a series of public hearings before the issue was brought up for a vote. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was also taken by surprise and indicated in an interview on WGN Radio (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/07/stroger-hints-hell-veto-pot-decriminalization.html - broken link) that he may be looking to veto rather than sign the measure: "I don't know how this popped up, and I haven't done a lot of research. Off the top of my head, I don't think it's such a great idea. I'm not really an advocate of trying to decriminalize the drug that people start before they move on to the higher stuff." The Sun-Times talked (http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1678061,ordinance-ticket-pot-offenders-072109.article - broken link) to Republican commissioner Gregg Goslin who opposed the measure and Goslin said, “You can’t have a patchwork quilt of law in every county. That law should be voted on at the state level."
Marijuana has been a hot topic these days in the state as a medical marjiuana bill remains in limbo in the general assembly - with a November 30, 2009 deadline - and U.S. Rep. Mark Krik, who recently announced his campaign for U.S. Senate, wants tougher penalties for more potent forms of marijuana.
Under current state law, possession of under 2.5 grams is a Class C misdemeanor (up to 30 days in jail plus fine) and between 2.5 grams and 10 grams is a Class B misdemeanor (30 days to six months in jail plus fine) [via General Assembly]. Under the new ordinance, a first-time offense would also stay off one's criminal record. 10 grams doesn't amount to all that much; would a $200 ticket really be all that horrible, especially given that Governor Quinn has mulled over releasing 10,000 non-violent prisoners in an effort to save the state money in the face of a huge multi-billion dollar budget gap?


County Board Decriminalizes Small Amount of Marijuana But Stroger Threatens Veto - Chicagoist

[Venom]

yayyyyyy

Wait, what's unincorporated?

[rockinrolla]

Originally Posted by Venom

yayyyyyy

Wait, what's unincorporated?

Where I live.

[long101]

Then charge a bigger fine to offset the costs of jailing a person overnight. Will they soon say that you can break every law by 'a little bit'.

[surlycue]

^^You know, man, a nice doobie might mellow you out a bit.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by long101

Will they soon say that you can break every law by 'a little bit'.

Who says the law makes sense in the first place?

[long101]

Originally Posted by via chicago

Who says the law makes sense in the first place?

agreed I never said it did. But the reasoning behind changing the law is idiotic. Saying that some kids make mistakes so lets change the law so when they make mistakes its not so harsh. Are we going to change the 0 tolerance, battery, and assualt laws so people dont have to go through as much trouble

[long101]

Originally Posted by surlycue

^^You know, man, a nice doobie might mellow you out a bit.

Its almost noon, I need a drink

[Venom]

Originally Posted by long101

agreed I never said it did. But the reasoning behind changing the law is idiotic. Saying that some kids make mistakes so lets change the law so when they make mistakes its not so harsh. Are we going to change the 0 tolerance, battery, and assualt laws so people dont have to go through as much trouble

No one else is affected with this though.

[cdc3217]

The pragmatic reasoning behind this is to cut costs by changing the enforcement of a law most people probably will turn the other way on, based on their own past or current behavior. It has very little to due with good public policy - irregardless of what you think that would be. They're hoping to cash in on fines and reduce courtroom backlog, which cost the county money. And scores of willing participants will head to unincorporated Cook to par-tay as a result. I can see the trail of haze leading from Bourbon Street to Garden Homes already.