<![CDATA[A Ticket For Marijuana Possession In Cook County? Reduced Pot Penalty Proposed As Budget Woes Deepen]]>

1.0 link 217042 <![CDATA[A Ticket For Marijuana Possession In Cook County? Reduced Pot Penalty Proposed As Budget Woes Deepen]]> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/20/a-ticket-for-marijuana-po_n_217042.html Getting caught with a small amount of marijuana would not automatically lead to arrest if a Cook County Commissioner gets her way.

An ordinance proposed this week by Commissioner Earlean Collins (D-Chicago) would allow county sheriffs to write tickets for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana rather than automatically making arrests. It's an effort, she says, to simultaneously boost sagging county revenues and ease overcrowding at the Cook County Jail.

"I know we're going to have a deficit budget," Collins...

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