CITY MAY FOLLOW SUBURBS' LEAD ON POT - WRITE TICKETS

When Brandon Sobon and two friends were ticketed in Wilmette for
marijuana possession, they weren't happy but knew it could have been a
lot worse. They could have been stopped in Chicago.

Sobon and his friends were returning from dinner in July when police
pulled the driver over for a minor traffic violation.

A Wilmette officer searched the vehicle and discovered a small bag of
marijuana--about one joint's worth-- in the glove compartment.

If a Chicago police officer had stopped them, they could have been
arrested, fingerprinted and assigned a court date.

Instead, each received the equivalent of a parking ticket, a $100 fine
under a village ordinance regarding the possession of less than 10
grams of marijuana.

"I was grateful that they let us off with a little warning," said
Sobon, 22, of Mundelein. "I guess it was a lesser punishment."

As Chicago officials consider a similar method of ticketing people
caught with small amounts of marijuana, they need not look far to find
examples of how it might play out on the streets.

Many Chicago suburbs have done it for decades.

Besides Wilmette, municipalities such as Winnetka, Glenview and
Naperville treat a first-time offender carrying less than 10 grams of
marijuana in much the same way: They get a ticket instead of a trip to
the police station, officials said.

The system allows teenagers to avoid blemishing their records before
college, where they can be denied financial aid if convicted of a drug
offense, officials say.

"It's not done for the purposes of generating money," said Jeffrey
Randall, village attorney for Glenview, where police estimate that
they issue 10 citations a month for marijuana. "Its purpose is
education, teaching the offender a lesson."

Ticketing offenders also offers flexibility to police and prosecutors,
who save time and money by not taking minor cases to court, proponents
say. In Cook County, most are dismissed anyway, they add.

Most communities must have home-rule status to enact an ordinance
superseding state law on marijuana offenses, officials said.

Winnetka, which doesn't have home rule, is an exception. The village's
1869 charter contains a provision that provides broader authority for
police enforcement, said Katherine Janega, village attorney.

In Chicago, officials are considering adopting the suburban approach
after reviewing statistics that show most minor marijuana cases are
dismissed in court.

Last year, 8,041 people were arrested for possessing less than 2 1/2
grams of marijuana, police statistics show.

Charges were dropped in 94 percent of those cases, according to a
report by Chicago Police Officer Thomas Donegan.

He recommended that the city issue tickets for those caught with under
30 grams of marijuana.

City officials met with State's Atty. Richard Devine recently to
discuss the proposal, but they have not reach any conclusions, said
John Gorman, spokesman for Devine.

In communities where police ticket offenders for marijuana possession,
officials stressed that they reserve that option only for first-time
offenders or minor cases.

"If someone has been arrested half a dozen times, we're not going to
use a city ordinance to penalize this," said Naperville Police Sgt.
Joel Truemper.

Drug offenders in that suburb still have to go to civil court to
resolve their cases, and while they avoid jail, they may be required
to perform community service as well as to pay a fine, said Frank
Cuneo, city prosecutor.

By comparison, a criminal violation--classified as a misdemeanor in
cases regarding less than 10 grams of marijuana--calls for up to
$1,500 in fines and 6 months in jail, according to state law.

Like Wilmette, Winnetka adopted its ordinance on marijuana in 1978.

"To my knowledge, it's never been challenged," Janega said.

Suburban fines

Fines for marijuana possession in Glenview range from $75 to $500,
allowing police officers to use their discretion, depending on the
offender's record. Other municipalities issue similar fines, beginning
at $50 for first-time offenses.

Legal experts said that, historically, prosecutors have been reluctant
to issue citations for marijuana for fear they will be perceived as
soft on crime.

Although opponents view cannabis as a gateway drug that could lead to
addiction, others are increasingly tolerant of the drug, they said.

"This reflects the changing perceptions of marijuana," said Ronald
Allen, a Northwestern University law professor. He said fining
offenders might be a more effective enforcement tool than taking them
to court.

"Sometimes over-criminalizing something is detrimental because if the
sanctions are too draconian, given social views, prosecutors are
reluctant to prosecute and juries are reluctant to convict," Allen
said.

Nationwide, municipalities that have begun enforcing marijuana
possession under local ordinances never use the word
"decriminalization," experts said.

"They would simply say we were rearranging our fiscal priorities,"
said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, based in Washington, D.C.

In Naperville and elsewhere, officials said they do not break down the
revenue generated from marijuana-related tickets.

In Wilmette, where police issue an average of 32 citations for
marijuana annually, the tickets carry fines of a minimum of $100,
according to village ordinance.

Neighboring Evanston and Skokie have no such ordinance and send
offenders to Criminal Court.

In 2003, Evanston police made 144 arrests for marijuana charges, a
number that doesn't include those involving multiple offenses. Skokie
statistics were not available.

Supporters of drug decriminalization support the move toward using
local ordinances to penalize marijuana offenses. Strict prohibition
has resulted in overcrowded prisons, gang crime and a black market for
marijuana, they say.

"The war on drugs doesn't work," said James Gierach, an Oak Lawn
attorney and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of
current and former law-enforcement officers.

"When you prohibit something and it's an addictive substance, you
immediately make it the most valued substance on Earth."

In Sobon's case, he isn't sure what prompted the Wilmette officer to
search the vehicle and he offered an observation.

"It's probably a good idea, if you are going to travel with
[marijuana], to expect to be pulled over even if you don't look
suspicious," he said