Cook County Weed Reform Announcement Falls on 420

What a way to celebrate the 420 Holiday in Chicago, huh?

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez conducted a news conference to announce additional reform to the weed laws.

Her announcement fell on April 20th, which is considered by many as National Weed Day. Sounds like the perfect time to make such and announcement, but spokeswoman Sally Daly called it “pure coincidence.”

To sum up the latest reform, the States Attorney will no longer prosecute cases where people are caught with misdemeanor amounts of weed. Instead they will seek help for repeat, nonviolent offenders.

“We potentially could ask for treatment for those cases,” Daly said. “Currently, our big emphasis is pushing toward treatment.”

Previous reform came on 2012. Police currently have the freedom to give tickets for possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana. The fines range from $200 to $500. Unfortunately, the ratio of tickets to arrest by Chicago’s Finest hasn’t been fair.

Dan Linn Linn, executive director of the Illinois National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, lauded the state’s attorney’s stance on pot, noting the sizable racial disparity in the first implementation of the ticketing ordinance, with more whites being ticketed and minorities being arrested (Chicago Tribune).

Alvarez is expected to also talk about helping people that use other recreational drugs like Ecstasy, cocaine and heroin.

They can throw those other drugs in the speech if they want to. Position it however they like. This announcement is primarily about weed reform, and it falls on the National Weed Holiday. It makes sense, because most people want reefer to be a legal recreational drug, anyway. Alcohol is a million times more harmful.