A tough view from the college press... Just caught this column from the University of Chicago's student newspaper titled "Pot proposal just pads city coffers," by Yelena Shagall. She's entirely critical of the proposal, seeing simply as a way to increase revenue for the city and nothing else.
The fact of the matter is that pot consumers are already living peaceably alongside their neighbors, a point that seems to be missed although all evidence points to it. The usage level hasn't diminished, people getting caught in these instances don't end up convicted, and no one is complaining except police officers troubled the time wasted arrested and charging "offenders."
Well...
You might be able to say that in cases involving 2.5 grams or less, since 94 percent of them are getting thrown out. But, as the amounts get higher, fewer cases get thrown out (about 50 percent at the less than 30 gram level), and more importantly, penalties become more severe. In addition, getting arrested has its own consequences, even if the case is thrown out in court. Lawyers need to be hired, time from work needs to be taken and explained, and there's still that chance, even with less than 2.5 grams, that you're going to face Judge Hardass who doesn't see any reason for a small time pot offender not to have a criminal record (as that beast in Washington, D.C. did last week - see Decrim in context, part 1 below).
That being said, I think columnist Shagall gets it right here:
Something should be done so that police officers don't have to waste their time-time taxpayers have to pay for-on marijuana-related offenses, perhaps allowing them to focus on other problems in the murder capital of the country.
That something is real, not de facto, marijuana decriminalization.
3:36:38 PM | permalink |
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