Enforcement of marijuana remains status quo until legalization

Impaired driving the focus moving forward

By Brent Bader, Michael Urbanec and Derek Barichello,

Chicago Tribune | Antonio Perez | TNS file

La Salle County State's Attorney Karen Donnelly said her office will prosecute marijuana arrests until the law legalizing recreational use in Illinois becomes official.

Police echoed her statement, saying enforcement will be status quo and emphasizing a focus on impaired driving.

After Gov. JB Pritzker signs the bill, marijuana use by adults for recreational purposes, sales and possession would become legal under state law on Jan. 1, 2020.

It allows Illinois residents older than 21 to possess up to 30 grams, or roughly one ounce, of marijuana for personal use, and it allows people certified to use marijuana for medical purposes to grow up to five plants in their own homes.

Donnelly said she receives a number of cases from Conservation Police on people cited for possession of small amounts of marijuana at state parks.

"Police will determine how much they enforce it until it becomes law," Donnelly said. "But for now, it's still against the law."

The bill provides a mechanism under which hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents could have criminal records for minor marijuana-related offenses expunged.

Donnelly said the Illinois State Police will be tasked with figuring out what is expunged.

She said her office could decide to charge drug traffickers on Interstate 80 with a lesser felony in anticipation the governor may offer clemency in cases where a harsher charge was pursued.

Donnelly said marijuana will be treated similar to alcohol once it's legalized.

She said police departments will need to seek additional training, if they haven't already, on how to detect DUIs of marijuana.

"We'll likely see an increase in drug-related DUIs," Donnelly said.

Recently, most of the focus on drug enforcement has been on safe driving.

Ottawa Police Capt. Dave Gualandri said when an officer conducts a traffic stop and has a reasonable suspicion a driver may be impaired, they might conduct a field sobriety test to determine the level of impairment.

"And if the officer arrests a motorist driving under the influence, there are tests available to quantify the level of the substance in their system, whether it's marijuana, alcohol or another intoxicating compound," Gualandri said. "The legalization of cannabis has not changed this process significantly."

Changes in the enforcement of marijuana possession in Illinois already changed in 2016 under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner when new legislation was signed into law that decriminalized the drug.

Under that law, those caught with up to 10 grams of marijuana resulted in citations not unlike traffic tickets with fines of around $100 to $200, when previously the offense was considered a misdemeanor and resulted in fines upward of $1,500 and possible jail time.

The legislation also gave law enforcement a firm amount of 5 nanograms or more of THC in their blood to be charged with DUI.

One minor change regarding possession of small amounts of marijuana is those under age 21 still will be enforced, but it likely still will be handled by the city of Ottawa as a municipal code violation.

South of La Salle County, Livingston County Sheriff Tony Childress said they’ll follow the new law, but the Illinois Sheriff’s Association isn’t happy about the legalization.

“This doesn’t eliminate the black market,” Childress said. “Cartels will profit even more as pot and drug usage increases as it increases the availability of drugs. That’s a step backward for the safety of the public.”

Childress said he is disappointed in the state because marijuana has enough proven cognitive health and safety concerns and their ability to monitor for those driving while high isn’t at the level in which they’re comfortable yet.

“We’ve been handling up to 30 grams as a civil fine before the legalization anyway,” Childress said. 

“It was just a ticket and you show up to court later similarly to a traffic fine. We’re still going to enforce the law on larger amounts; that isn’t going to change.”

Childress used Colorado as an example of why legalizing marijuana is a danger to public safety: Colorado had a 35% increase in traffic fatalities between 2013 and 2017, according to the Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report; however, this number is not limited to fatalities related to marijuana. It includes all traffic deaths.

“The state of Colorado legalized cannabis and it proved to be a disaster in the way of increased safety dangers on their roadways, increased traffic fatalities on their roadways and it proved to be a negative as it related to criminal enforcement of the laws as they relate to the legalization of cannabis,” Childress said.

What also increased in Colorado is the number of people driving with THC in their system by 151%, but that number does not take into account that testing for marijuana doesn’t count recent consumption. A blood or urine test for THC can show use dating back weeks.

That’s where Marseilles Police Chief Brian Faber’s concerns lie.

“There’s been a discussion about probable cause,” Faber said. “If it's a DUI stop or if you smell alcohol, it's pretty easy to tell, but what’s the scope if you smell weed? Do you perform a search? How do we tell who is under the influence?”

Faber said these problems can be solved with proper training and his opinion can change with the correct information.

“I’m also worried about our canines,” Faber said. “The dogs are already trained to sniff out marijuana and you really can’t untrain a drug dog.”

A spokesman for the Illinois State Police said the agency wasn't commenting on the legalization of recreational marijuana until the governor signed the bill. Streator Police Chief Kurt Pastirik also said he didn't have comment.