Emanuel’s Push To Decriminalize Marijuana Possession and Downgrade Possession of Other Substances Is Great For Diverting Drug Addicts, Saving Taxpayer Resources
On Tuesday, September 23rd, Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to call on state lawmakers to decriminalize marijuana possession statewide and to reduce the penalty to a misdemeanor for those caught with 1 gram or less of any controlled substance.
“It is time to put our sentencing policies in line with our values, reduce penalties for nonviolent, low-level drug offenses so we don’t put people in prison who need drug treatment,” Emanuel said in a statement his office will release publicly Tuesday. “It doesn’t make sense that one arrest for a very small amount of a controlled substance can lead to a lifetime of struggles, sending people in and out of prison and putting up barriers to getting a job or finding a place to live. We need action from Springfield.”
A legislative change to this effect would dramatically divert addicts from the felony system, as they mostly possess less than a gram. Rahm’s administration estimates 7,000 arrests for less than a gram. Since approximately half make their way out of system at preliminary hearings as it is, that’s a felony caseload reduction of 3,500 or about 15%, a significant reduction for a County facing increasing pretrial lengths of stay in the Cook County Jail.
This announcement comes at a time when their has been increasing scrutiny paid to the amount of taxpayer money being spent to jail non-violent drug offenders, particularly when half such cases are almost invariably dismissed by judges who feel that prosecuting cases for less than a gram is a waste of county resources. This phenomenon has been captured recently in a perceptive Chicago Reporter article.
In the article, Retired Judge Lawrence P. Fox, who has overseen special drug courts that focus on alternative sentencing since the late 1990s, is quoted as saying the problem is too big for the courts to fix on their own. “There are so many people that use and abuse drugs,” he says. “My gut is the only thing you can do is decriminalize it. Under a certain amount make it a citational offense.”
“I’m not saying I’m in favor of it,” Fox added, “but it’s the only thing you can do.”
Chicago Appleseed is quoted in the article as well. The problem with the current system, as we see it, is that legislators and state’s attorneys have up till now abdicated their responsibility to decide which offenders need to be prosecuted traditionally and which should be diverted from the criminal justice system entirely or into treatment. Currently, the Cook County state’s attorneys review felony arrests within 24 hours for every crime type except for drug offenses. This means that every drug case, no matter how small the amount or questionable the level of probable cause, has to wait a minimum of 21 days before getting to a preliminary hearing. This results in 6,000 dismissals annually at preliminary hearings for lack of probable cause for nonviolent drug cases — and each of these 6,000 individuals spend an average of 25 days in the jail, at an enormous cost to the taxpayers.
The judges – the last line in the criminal justice system – should not be in the position to be the first to review these cases. Chicago Appleseed has been pushing a bill — with the help of the Community Renewal Society — to shorten the time these individuals would have to be in jail before their preliminary hearings and has long advocated for the State’s Attorneys Office to reinstitute felony review of drug cases.
Mayor Emanuel’s proposal cuts even more directly at the problem. By downgrading possession of small amounts of controlled substances to a misdemeanor and decriminalizing marijuana possession, drug addicts would be removed from the felony system, their future employment and life prospects will be less harmed, and there would be a substantial savings for taxpayers in housing these individuals in the jail.