Chicago Mayor Emanuel backs marijuana decriminalization

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

By Mary Wisniewski
CHICAGO | Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday he would back a proposal that would decriminalize possessing small amounts of marijuana, the latest major U.S. political figure to support diminished penalties for the drug's use.

Under the proposed ordinance, to be voted on by the city council later this month, police officers in the nation's third-largest city would be able to issue a written violation for possession of 15 grams or less.

This is a modified version of an ordinance proposed last fall by a group of Chicago aldermen, who said the measure would help raise revenue for the city, save money and free up police to pursue more serious crimes.

More than a dozen states and several of the largest U.S. cities have already taken similar steps. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is another supporter of pot decriminalization.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/15/us-usa-marijuana-chicago-idUSBRE85E10J20120615

[mopinko]

1. i know a lot of folks hate rahm, but

he is doing a lot of common sense stuff like this.
i think he is doing a good job in tough times.

[MADem]

4. Well, he's not unfriendly with the administration--this is the way things are done in MA.

Our governor is not unfriendly with the administration, either. People get a ticket and go on their way. The state raises some easy money and doesn't take a cop off the street booking someone for a petty 'offense.'

It would not surprise me if this becomes a federal standard based on the number of municipalities and states that have adopted it. It certainly would help to empty out a lot of overcrowded prisons. Right now, people can go to jail on a third strike for this -- if it's reduced to the level of a parking ticket, that's a horse of a different color.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. "he is doing a lot of common sense stuff"? Like what?

[mopinko]

8. like switching garbage pick up to a grid system instead

of following ward boundaries.
like expanding community gardens
like rewriting the zoning to allow for urban gardens
like actually talking to aldermen
like pushing forward the date to shut down coal fired power plants


i don't agree with everything, and i am happy as hell that he isn't my brother-in-law. but all in all, i think he is big enough for the job, and at least wants to look like a good progressive dem. if that pushes him to do the right thing, that is more than you get in a lot of places.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. Please excuse me, but I don't think that "he wants to look like a good progressive dem." Sure, he

wants to have a (D) after his name, but I don't see how he wants to be a progressive. Being a Democrat is the way to get elected in Chicago. Being a Democrat does not mean that a person has progressive or liberal values.

None of the issues that you touched upon, as far as I can see, are "progressive" or "liberal" issues.

You may call yourself a progressive. I call myself a liberal. What's the difference in the two categories? Well, Rahm hasn't called "progressives" retarded at this point. In 2010, he appologized to the Chairman of the Special Olympics committee for calling liberals retarded. Pardon me, but I don't forget that quickly. And I haven't seen anything to indicate that he is a progressive or a liberal.

[mopinko]

15. whatever.

he never said progressives were retarded. reality doesn't seem to mean too much to you.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

16. If Emanuel never referred to liberals as "fucking retarded," he would have never appologized.

At a closed-door meeting in the White House with liberal activists, he called them "fucking retarded" for planning to run TV ads attacking conservative Democrats who didn't support Obama's health-care overhaul. In February 2010, Emanuel apologized to organizations for the mentally handicapped for using the word "retarded." He expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive of the Special Olympics after the remark was reported in an article by The Wall Street Journal about growing liberal angst at the chief of staff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

Wikipedia, of course, is just one source. Many other sources reported his 2010 appology. This is the same year in which the Blue Dog Democrats managed to lose a great many elections.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

21. His defenders here try to weasel saying he called an idea retarded rather than the people.

Same difference. The guy is a jerk.

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. The community gardens sprouting up all over the North Side are awesome

Three in my near vicinity, all occupy what was otherwise blight space (on Lawrence, on Lincoln, on Montrose).

Rahm's horrible to the teachers. But this other stuff is really positive and common sense, as you say.

[Autumn]

2. Nice.He's still an asshole but this is good.

[kestrel91316]

3. I'm stunned. He is the most Republican-ish "Democrat" in the country.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

5. Rahm liberals-are-retarded-and-where-else-are-they-going-to-go Emanuel? Broken clock analogy.

In early 2010, Rahm Emanuel appologized to the Special Olympics chairman for calling liberals retarded.

His recent conversion to decriminize possessing small amounts of marijuana is the right thing but probably would have been smarter if he would have converted earlier.

[IamK]

7. being stoned may help you sleep through the gunfire.... n/t

[99th_Monkey]

9. Woot! K & R

[JNelson6563]

11. I appreciate every voice of reason on this issue.

Thanks Mr. Mayor.

[Vidar]

12. He's an asshole who belongs in prison, but he's right on this.

[Scurrilous]

13. Good on him.

[lib2DaBone]

14. He must not own stock in Private Prisons...

Hard to believe he missed out on that..?

[DCKit]

17. No kidding. There's gonna be serious push-back from those corporate persons.

Without our draconian drug laws, their profits are going to be cut in half.

[ronwelldobbs]

18. Just legalize it already!

Americans of all stripes are fed up with this Reefer Madness bullshit.
Enough with these baby steps, the President and Congress both needs to grow some cojones and just legalize it.

[RZM]

19. Excellent news. The tide seems to be turning, albeit slowly

The more people who come out for this, the better. And I don't care if they are left, right, center, or anywhere in between. If you're on the right side of the issue, I'm going to give you props for it.

[otherone]

22. Good for him