Chicago City Council Overwhelmingly Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana?
The Chicago City Council overwhelmingly voted today to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal passed 44-3, allowing Chicago police to issue pot-possession tickets starting Aug. 4. The move makes Chicago among a growing wave of states and several of the largest U.S. cities to adopt reduced penalties.
The ordinance gives Chicago police the discretion to issue citations between $250 to $500 for someone with 15 grams or less of pot.
Chicago 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 made changes to his original proposal to appease aldermen concerned that the city was sending the message that it was going soft on pot.
Read More: http://zen-haven.dk/chicago-city-council-overwhelm...
Their jails are already overcrowded so they weren't arresting people beforehand.
Now they will be focusing on writing those tickets like meter maids tagging illegally parked vehicles.
Don't show up to court or pay the fine? .... now you have a warrant out and the fine goes up even higher.
Anyone who thinks this is doing anything to help the situation has rocks in their head.