MARIJUANA ARRESTS DOWN IN MILWAUKEE, BUT UP IN SUBURBS, REPORT SAYS

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Marijuana arrests in the city decreased in the year
since officials decriminalized possessing small amounts of the drug.
But state numbers show such arrests in the suburbs have climbed.

Crime statistics compiled by the state Office of Justice Assistance
showed arrests for the sale or possession of marijuana in Milwaukee
declined 6 percent since Common Council enacted the decriminalization
ordinance.

From May 1997 through April 1998, Milwaukee police made 2,210
marijuana-related arrests, an decrease of 144 arrests from the same
time period a year earlier.

Arrests in suburban Milwaukee increased 7.5 percent, the figures
showed. Milwaukee County suburban police made 1,385 arrests from May
1997 to April 1998. From May 1996 through April 1997, 1,288 people
were arrested for sales and possession.

Despite the reduction, experts say the figures do not necessarily mean
marijuana use is declining.

"I wouldn't interpret a lightened penalty in your area as affecting a
change in marijuana use," said Robert MacCoun, a professor and
researcher at the University of California at Berkeley. "My guess is
that police are either too busy with other things or that they just
see it as less of a priority now."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry