Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jun 2012
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2012 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Kristen Mack

CITY COUNCIL OKS POT TICKETS

Latest Emanuel Initiative Could Reap Millions More From Scofflaws

The Chicago City Council voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to 
decriminalize marijuana possession, joining a wave of states and big 
cities that have opted for fines instead of arrests for small amounts 
of the drug.

Starting Aug. 4, police can issue tickets of $250 to $500 for someone 
caught with 15 grams or less of pot - the equivalent of about 25 
cigarette-sized joints. Given that more than 18,000 people are 
arrested for pot possession in Chicago each year, the new law could 
generate millions of dollars for the city.

The push for pot tickets marks the latest in an increasingly long 
line of mayor rahm Emanuel's maneuvers to find new sources of money 
that largely rely on penalizing people who run afoul of the law. The 
mayor counted on bad behavior to balance his first budget, 
anticipating that the city would raise $26 million in increased fines 
for such offenses as failing to cut high weeds, not feeding parking 
meters and driving with a suspended license.

This fall, cameras are expected to begin clocking motorists who speed 
on Chicago streets, ultimately resulting in tickets of up to $100 and 
tens of millions of dollars for the city. Emanuel framed that 
controversial plan as a way to leverage technology to better protect 
children near schools and parks.

Like the speed-camera plan, Emanuel insisted Wednesday that the 
marijuana fines aren't about the money.

"It's not about revenue, it's about what (police officers) were doing 
with their time," the mayor said. "The only revenue I'm interested 
in, I don'twant to be paying for these officers time and a half to 
sit in a courtroom for four hours on something that 80 to 90 percent 
of the time will be thrown out and everybody, both the residents and 
police officers and judges, already knows the outcome."

In making the case for the city's new approach, police Superintendent 
Garry Mccarthy said charges are dropped against the "vast majority" 
of people arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana. And 
each arrest takes up to four hours of police time, compared with 
about half an hour to issue a ticket and test the confiscated weed.

Mccarthy estimates that the new ordinance will free up more than 
20,000 hours of police time, the equivalent of about $1 million in savings.

When marijuana possession cases are dismissed, the city collects no cash.

Emanuel's administration refused to say how much it anticipates 
raising. But based on the more than 18,000 arrests made for small 
possession in the past year, the city stands to haul in anywhere from 
$4.5 million to $9million. The city's take depends on the amount of 
the ticket officers decide to write and how many people actually pay 
what they owe.

Police officers would continue to arrest people caught smoking 
marijuana or carrying it on park or school grounds. Authorities also 
would arrest anyone younger than 17 caught with pot or anyone they 
believed was trying to sell the drug.

Emanuel changed his original proposal to appease aldermen concerned 
that the city was sending the message that it was going soft on pot. 
Violators could be required to do community service. Those ticketed 
could be forced to take part in drug awareness or education programs. 
And the city still could impound offenders' vehicles.

"All of us have some internal conflict with what we're doing. ... 
Head-toheart conflict. I think we did appropriate dialogue, debate, 
discussion, exchanging ideas and improving an ordinance from 
beginning (to) end," Emanuel said after the vote.

"This is one piece of correcting what I think has failed year in and 
year out," he added.

Before the 44-3 vote, several aldermen said African-american and 
Latino communities are disproportionately affected by the city's 
current policy to arrest people who possess small amounts of marijuana.

"If you had been white and privileged, marijuana has already been 
decriminalized," said Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, who voted for the 
measure. "The only people arrested for these crimes have been black 
and brown individuals. ... This is a way to potentially level the 
playing field."

Currently, people convicted of possession face a misdemeanor charge 
punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,500 fine.

Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, said the new approach will give officers the 
ability to fight more serious crimes.

"We need to distinguish between people who are part of criminal 
enterprise and people who are casual users," Pawar said.

Aldermen who voted against the measure expressed concerns about the 
message it would send to children. Ald. Robert Maldonado said 15 
grams is a significant amount of marijuana and he worried that the 
new policy would lead to a spike in public use of the drug.

"With the adoption of this ordinance, many of those thugs will 
perceive and misinterpret the law that it is a license to smoke 
marijuana in public," said Maldonado, 26th. "That's why I cannot come 
to terms to vote for this ordinance."

Ald. Edward burke, 14th, an influential alderman who was among the 
first to voice concerns about the change, said Wednesday that his 
"skepticism has turned to support."

"We all come to this debate with different life experiences," said 
Burke, who noted that although his generation did not widely smoke 
pot, he is the foster parent of a former "cocaine baby" and he's 
witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of drug use.

Citing figures he said were provided by the Police Department, Burke 
said that among the arrests made for marijuana possession in the past 
year, more than 16,000 of them were of African-Americans.

"Just as I don't want to send the wrong message to kids, I also don't 
want it to be the case that young Walter or young Travis are going to 
be 16 times more likely to get lockedup in the city of Chicago than 
some kid from Sauganash or Beverly," Burke said while looking at Ald. 
Walter Burnett, 27th, and referring to his own son, Travis.

Emanuel's support, which he deliberated over for nine months, makes 
him the latest U.S. political figure to back reduced penalties for 
possession of small amounts of marijuana. This month, New York Mayor 
Michael Bloomberg endorsed a similar proposal by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

More than a dozen states and several of the largest U.S. cities have 
taken similar steps.

Some Chicago suburbs have been doling out possession tickets for 
years under local ordinances. Fines and procedures vary from town to 
town, with citations ranging from $25 to $1,000.
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