CITY'S MARIJUANA ARRESTS INCREASE

Other Drug Crimes See Slight Decline

The number of marijuana arrests in Chicago increased 12 percent last
year, while arrests for dealing and possession of all other controlled
substances in the city fell slightly, according to state crime figures
to be released Sunday.

Some of the largest increases in marijuana arrests were reported in
the Englewood, Chicago Lawn, Marquette, Shakespeare and Albany Park
Districts, all of which saw at least a 20 percent rise in arrests,
according to 2003 numbers issued by each police district.

Each year, the Illinois State Police publishes "Crime in Illinois," a
compilation of reports on the eight most serious violent and property
crimes from hundreds of local law-enforcement agencies.

The 2003 report found statewide decreases in crimes from murder and
rape to burglary and arson, with corresponding decreases in arrests.
Overall, the Illinois crime rate fell 4.8 percent last year to a level
last reported in 1972.

Statewide, however, marijuana arrests increased 9.5 percent in 2003,
and Chicago's 12.1 percent increase in marijuana arrests exceeded the
statewide surge.

Police said the increase in marijuana arrests isn't the result of
their ongoing operation in which police infiltrate drug areas by
arresting dealers and replacing them with undercover officers. Heroin
and cocaine dealers and users are targeted during these busts, police
said.

Rather, the rise in marijuana arrests may stem from police focusing on
ridding the city's neighborhood of gangs, drugs and guns, police
spokesman Pat Camden said. "We are paying more attention to controlled
substances across the board," he said.

Officers are seeing marijuana more often during traffic stops and
while conducting other investigations, Camden said.

The increase in marijuana arrests in Chicago doesn't mean usage of the
drug has increased, experts said.

"This sort of increase almost always indicates a change in police
policy rather than any change in the amount of use," said Paul
Goldstein, professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at
Chicago.

Although community activists welcome the attention police have given
crime-plagued neighborhoods they feel were once largely ignored, many
worry police aren't going after the right criminals.

"The problem with this approach is that they're creating records for
people who are basically people with drug problems and generally young
people who are making a mistake," said Madeline Talbott, head
organizer with Illinois ACORN, the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now.

"The youth who are not necessarily involved with other crimes are
being painted with this broad brush," Talbott said, "and it makes it
that much harder for them to get on the right road if they end up with
this on their record."

Rev. Robin Hood, 42, the community organizer for ACORN, who leads
efforts to decrease violence in Englewood, said the neighborhood needs
more drug-rehabilitation centers.

Bryan Brickner, chairman of Illinois NORML, the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, helps people who have been convicted
of a marijuana charge find jobs. With a felony on their record, many
of them have trouble finding work, he said.

Brickner said Illinois should follow the lead of Ohio, which
decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"I think there's recognition that the drug war is changing," he said.
"Decriminalizing cannabis would take a lot of people out of the
criminal system, and the police could focus on other crimes."

But anti-drug advocates say more lenient drug laws and less
enforcement are not the answer.

"If we're going to reduce the number of arrests and reduce the number
of people using drugs, we have to increase prevention education up
front," said Tari Marshall, spokeswoman for Prevention First, a
non-profit drug-prevention group.

"The problem with marijuana today compared to 20 years ago is it's
much more potent. ... The dangers of marijuana are greater now than
they were in the past," Marshall said

James W. Compton, president of the Chicago Urban League, is among
community leaders who would like to see substance-abuse treatment as
an alternative to incarceration for those convicted of drug offenses.

"I think it's been proven that incarceration in and of itself does not
have a great influence on usage," Compton said.