Daley rips County Board for marijuana stance

Five years after embracing the idea of issuing tickets for minor pot violations, Mayor Daley today ridiculed the Cook County Board for decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“People say you cannot smoke. ... They said, ‘Please don’t smoke.’ Now, everybody’s saying, ‘Let’s all smoke marijuana.’ After a while, you wonder where America is going,” the mayor said.

“Pretty soon, the headline [will be], ‘Let’s bring cigarettes back. It makes people feel calmer, quieter, relaxing.’… We said you cannot smoke cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is bad for you. Now all the sudden, marijuana smoking is good for you. Can we take Lucky Strikes, mix ‘em together and say, ‘Smoking is coming back in the United States?’”

Daley said it’s ironic that the County Board would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana at the same time that President Obama is pressuring Congress to overhaul national health care.

“The issue is really clouded. It’s a health issue. We’re worried about health care for everyone and, all of the sudden, we think marijuana smoking is the best thing if someone drives down the expressway, someone’s driving a cab, someone’s driving a bus, someone’s flying a plane. After a while, where do you go?” the mayor said.

Earlier this week, the County Board gave sheriff’s police who patrol unincorporated areas of Cook County the go-ahead to issue $200 tickets to those caught with less than ten grams of pot.

The measure was pushed by County Commissioner Earleen Collins, whose grandson had his car impounded and was forced to spend a night in jail after being busted for carrying “half a joint.”

The vote occurred on the same day that attention was focused on the County Board’s decision to skin back a controversial sales tax hike.

“A lot of kids make a mistake, have a little marijuana and they can avoid going to jail or court,” Collins said.

Five years ago, Daley embraced a police sergeant’s proposal to raise sorely-needed revenue by ticketing people caught with small amounts of marijuana — with fines ranging from $250 for ten grams to $1,000 for 20-to-30 grams.

At the time, he argued that it made little sense to pile up arrests for marijuana use when “99 percent” of the cases are dismissed. Judges have so little regard for the cases, many defendants don’t even bother showing up in the court, he said.

“It’s decriminalized now. They throw all the cases out,” Daley said then.

“Why do we arrest the individual, seize the marijuana, [go] to court and they’re all thrown out? It costs you a lot of money for police officers to go to court. … Sometimes a fine is worse than being thrown out of court.”

On Wednesday, the mayor was asked whether his change of heart had anything to with the bad message decriminalization might send to kids who use pot as a gateway drug.

“The parents use it, too,” Daley said. “Bad messages come from parents. They don’t come from children.”