U.S. NEITHER FOR NOR AGAINST PLAN TO FINE FOR POT POSSESSION

The nation's drug czar said Wednesday that a plan being considered by
Mayor Daley to fine -- rather than arrest -- people possessing small
amounts of marijuana could help control the use of a drug he sees as
being more potent than many people realize.

It's clear from the high dismissal rate of marijuana-possession cases
in Chicago that authorities are not treating pot as seriously as they
should, said John Walters, the White House's top drug-fighting
official. His remarks came in an interview a day after Daley embraced
a Chicago Police sergeant's plan to impose fines on pot smokers
ranging from $250 for up to 10 grams to $1,000 for 20 to 30 grams.

Sgt. Thomas Donegan, fed up with seeing pot arrests evaporate in
court, presented top police brass with a report last week showing that
6,954 cases -- 94 percent of those involving less than 2.5 grams of
pot -- were dismissed in 2003.

Donegan suggested that fines for possession of less than 30 grams of
pot -- a misdemeanor -- could have raised $5 million last year. A
hearing would still be held for people fined for having pot, but the
standard of proof would be lower than in a misdemeanor case, and the
ticket would not go on their criminal record, making it likely that
they would pay instead of fighting it, Donegan said. Police could
still make arrests on a state misdemeanor drug charge, if, for
example, the suspect were a repeat drug offender.

Walters did not object to the concept of imposing fines on people
caught with small amounts of pot. But he would not express outright
support for the idea, either.

Instead, he said fines could be a "tool" for reducing pot consumption,
along with opening up more drug courts and requiring pot smokers to
attend classes to learn about the dangers of the drug.

Walters, however, did not echo fears by some in law enforcement that
imposing fines for pot would show that the city is not serious about
pot consumption.

"Some people will read that fines downgrade our concern about the
issue," he said. "I don't read that."

He stressed that the goal of enforcing laws on marijuana possession
should not be locking up the offenders, but educating them that pot
has become more potent in the last 10 years and that more users are
winding up in hospitals. Walters said 4,588 people visited emergency
rooms in the Chicago area in 2002 because of pot-related problems and
4,800 people were admitted to substance-abuse programs in 2001 for
marijuana treatment. Scientific improvements in the cultivation of
marijuana have increased the content of the active ingredient -- THC
-- from about 1 percent to 2 percent of the total weight to an average
of 9 percent, Walters said. "I certainly agree with the frustration
reflected in the comments by the mayor and law enforcement in
Chicago," Walters said. "There is an unwillingness now in most
jurisdictions to take seriously enough the problem of marijuana
trafficking and consumption."