IL - Senate Bill 2228 (Weed)

[bigi]

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2016...or-signs-marijuana-decriminalization-measure/

 

[DrPizza]

Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation today amending the state’s marijuana possession penalties.

Senate Bill 2228 reduces the penalties for the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor (formerly punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,500 fine) to a civil fine of no more than $200 — no arrest and no criminal record.

It also decriminalizes related offenses involving the possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

Senate Bill 2228 also amends the state’s zero tolerance per se traffic safety law, stating that the presence of THC in blood at levels below 5ng/ml “shall not give rise to any presumption that the person was or was not under the influence of cannabis.”

The full text of the measure is available here.

According to the ACLU, Illinois police arrest some 50,000 individuals annually for marijuana possession offenses — ranking #5 in the nation in per capita marijuana possession arrests.

Illinois becomes the third largest state to decriminalize minor marijuana possession offenses.

More info from the link, since the OP didn't provide much information. Impressive that it's a Republican governor. He's recently announced that he'll be seeking reelection, but that doesn't happen until 2018. With Illinois 5th in the nation in marijuana arrests, and up to 10 grams got someone up to 6 months in jail, just think of all the people currently sitting in prison in Illinois as a result. How much money would the state save in incarceration costs if they woke up and released all of them. And in the future, how many young lives won't be ruined by having a jail term on their record (and losing their jobs, if they were employed at the time they were caught).

 

[chucky2]

It's IL, because of the budget impasse Rauner is going to legalize weed for the dopers and make $$$ on it. Plus it won't hurt during his re-election run...

 

[K1052]

More info from the link, since the OP didn't provide much information. Impressive that it's a Republican governor. He's recently announced that he'll be seeking reelection, but that doesn't happen until 2018. With Illinois 5th in the nation in marijuana arrests, and up to 10 grams got someone up to 6 months in jail, just think of all the people currently sitting in prison in Illinois as a result. How much money would the state save in incarceration costs if they woke up and released all of them. And in the future, how many young lives won't be ruined by having a jail term on their record (and losing their jobs, if they were employed at the time they were caught).

While it's a good step he did veto almost identical legislation last year that had a higher limit on the possession threshold because of some nebulous "felt like too much" bullshit.

 

[K1052]

It's IL, because of the budget impasse Rauner is going to legalize weed for the dopers and make $$$ on it. Plus it won't hurt during his re-election run...

At a 35% job approval I'd submit that there isn't much that could hurt him at this point. Hopefully both he and Madigan loose their elections to reasonable people.

 

[nakedfrog]

More info from the link, since the OP didn't provide much information. Impressive that it's a Republican governor. He's recently announced that he'll be seeking reelection, but that doesn't happen until 2018. With Illinois 5th in the nation in marijuana arrests, and up to 10 grams got someone up to 6 months in jail, just think of all the people currently sitting in prison in Illinois as a result. How much money would the state save in incarceration costs if they woke up and released all of them. And in the future, how many young lives won't be ruined by having a jail term on their record (and losing their jobs, if they were employed at the time they were caught).

Wow, that's pretty draconian.

 

[chucky2]

At a 35% job approval I'd submit that there isn't much that could hurt him at this point. Hopefully both he and Madigan loose their elections to reasonable people.

IMO the Reps were foolish to run someone that would actually win. The Dems have F'd IL, let it hit bottom with them in charge and let them take the blame for their utopia. Now what it'll be is what I hear from Progressive friends/family, "Look what Rauner has done!" Gone is the Reality of the past decades, now it's all because of Rauner.

Basically what I'm saying is I'm more than happy for Rauner to not get re-elected, as long as a Dem wins. The Dems need to own IL, it is overwhelmingly their making...

 

[K1052]

IMO the Reps were foolish to run someone that would actually win. The Dems have F'd IL, let it hit bottom with them in charge and let them take the blame for their utopia. Now what it'll be is what I hear from Progressive friends/family, "Look what Rauner has done!" Gone is the Reality of the past decades, now it's all because of Rauner.

Basically what I'm saying is I'm more than happy for Rauner to not get re-elected, as long as a Dem wins. The Dems need to own IL, it is overwhelmingly their making...

I'm less interested in partisan point scoring than actually getting some new blood into state government who instead of waging ideological power struggles will actually work to solve the state's problems. I don't much care if they have R's or D's appended to their names.

The zero sum game being played by Madigan and Rauner has only hurt everybody else but them, they're both rich guys who don't actually give a shit what collateral damage they cause as long as they come out on top in the game. Rauner didn't cause all the problems but he's certainly done his best to make them worse in order to pass an agenda that will just never make it though the state legislature.

 

[zinfamous]

IMO the Reps were foolish to run someone that would actually win. The Dems have F'd IL, let it hit bottom with them in charge and let them take the blame for their utopia. Now what it'll be is what I hear from Progressive friends/family, "Look what Rauner has done!" Gone is the Reality of the past decades, now it's all because of Rauner.

Basically what I'm saying is I'm more than happy for Rauner to not get re-elected, as long as a Dem wins. The Dems need to own IL, it is overwhelmingly their making...

man, those dems sure did ruin California with their dem policies!

...oh, wait.

Shouldn't you be more concerned about getting IL working again, rather than pawning off responsibility simply because it tickles your blame neurons?

 

[DrPizza]

IMO the Reps were foolish to run someone that would actually win. The Dems have F'd IL, let it hit bottom with them in charge and let them take the blame for their utopia. Now what it'll be is what I hear from Progressive friends/family, "Look what Rauner has done!" Gone is the Reality of the past decades, now it's all because of Rauner.

Basically what I'm saying is I'm more than happy for Rauner to not get re-elected, as long as a Dem wins. The Dems need to own IL, it is overwhelmingly their making...

I understand your point, but it's a pretty disgusting attitude to have - to want to see a state fail even more and the situation get worse for those living in the state, simply so one side of the political aisle can gloat. Let me ask you this though - once Illinois hits rock bottom, and the Repubs get to point and say, "hey, look what they did!" Who is going to fix it? The Republicans? If that's the case, then when not have the Republicans start trying RIGHT NOW to fix it. And here's where the disgust comes in: you consider the Republicans to be foolish to run someone who can actually win. You would rather things get worse before they get better, just to score political points in something that isn't just a game. Incidentally, did things get better with R at the helm? Or could the failures in Illinois be attributed to greater causes than just politics?

 

[chucky2]

I'm less interested in partisan point scoring than actually getting some new blood into state government who instead of waging ideological power struggles will actually work to solve the state's problems. I don't much care if they have R's or D's appended to their names.

The zero sum game being played by Madigan and Rauner has only hurt everybody else but them, they're both rich guys who don't actually give a shit what collateral damage they cause as long as they come out on top in the game. Rauner didn't cause all the problems but he's certainly done his best to make them worse in order to pass an agenda that will just never make it though the state legislature.

Yes, but for that new blood to get elected as a D, they will sell their soul to the special interests, thus making them 'not new blood' once they start wheeling and dealing. They'll be a young Madigan. IL is F'd, as the SC has ruled all those contracts, that never should have been made in the fashion they were, cannot be discharged. We're literally on the hook for decades of vote buying.

man, those dems sure did ruin California with their dem policies!

...oh, wait.

Oh wait, IL isn't CA! <shocker!> IL doesn't have the geography advantage CA has (giving it both never ending trade and tourist flow), and also, won't enjoy that never ending stream of money and talent that goes there to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Do you know how enjoyable it is to commute into the city each day while the 1-2" of snow falls for the 15th straight gray day in jam packed rush hour traffic? Want to visit the frozen wasteland that is the lake in the winter? Wait, how about the frozen flatland outside of the city?

Shouldn't you be more concerned about getting IL working again, rather than pawning off responsibility sim

ply because it tickles your blame neurons?

Not really, I'd rather see IL hit bottom so it can truly be fixed, rather than band-aid along like the Politicians do each year, thereby just kicking the true solution can(s) down the road because they don't want to face the ire of their constituencies. If IL crashes it's hardly going to affect me at all, so I'm really pulling for a Detriot+ if we can get it.

I understand your point, but it's a pretty disgusting attitude to have - to want to see a state fail even more and the situation get worse for those living in the state, simply so one side of the political aisle can gloat.

Oh no no no...I don't want to see it crash so one side can gloat. I want to see it crash so the LOL BS that is IL BAU can finally come, at least temporarily, to an end. When it crashes, those at the helm will get blamed (like they always do), and I want that to be - overwhelmingly - the party that got IL to this point. Let the Dems enjoy their 'if our policies were so bad why is CA doing so awesome'. At that point a party that wasn't in control can come in and possibly help clean house and attempt to get IL back on track.

Let me ask you this though - once Illinois hits rock bottom, and the Repubs get to point and say, "hey, look what they did!" Who is going to fix it? The Republicans? If that's the case, then when not have the Republicans start trying RIGHT NOW to fix it.

Because when it hits rock bottom, and a Rep is at the helm, as Rauner is now, you'll get imbeciles saying, 'Look, look what the evil Reps like Rauner did to IL!' We can already see it now, and IL hasn't even officially hit bottom. And as far as fixing it, because it hasn't hit bottom, we've got a Rep Gov and a Dem Congress and we can't get anything done because of that Dem Congress. That Dem Congress just has to wait out his term, and then run someone that will pledge to get things back on track, queue images of kids, teachers smiling all joyous that they're working, sheeple Goebbels etc etc.

And here's where the disgust comes in: you consider the Republicans to be foolish to run someone who can actually win. You would rather things get worse before they get better, just to score political points in something that isn't just a game. Incidentally, did things get better with R at the helm? Or could the failures in Illinois be attributed to greater causes than just politics?

See above. IL is in trouble because to get all those votes coming in year after year, Politicians who never would be held personally accountable (as the vast majority knew when they were making them). The majority of the trouble came from one party, and that party in this states case is Dem. So I want that party to suffer. If the situation were reversed, I'd want the Rep party to suffer. If I had faith that IL problems could truly be fixed (not fake fixed, but actually be properly fixed) without it hitting bottom, then I'd be all for that. But just like Federal Politicians, our State Politicians cannot properly do their jobs and get re-elected. So they'll do what they always do, cook the books/cut the deals, kick those cans down the road, and get re-elected. They're Whore-Politician...the only ones as scummy are Whore-Lawyer; apologies to any actual Whores reading this, I don't mean to tarnish your profession by lumping you in with those two bottom feeder groups.

 

[soundforbjt]

In a related story, scales in Illinois are flying off the shelfs.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Problem in IL with politics isn't really Dems or Repubs party, but much mure so its the overall corruption and the "screw the future" kick the can down the road attitude. Spend today, pay tomorrow. plan for the quarter or the year. Its all short term thinking.

In any case, I would support a measure to remove all the democraps and all the republicants from office, and prevent any of them from ever running again, and instead bring in all greens, libertarians, and various other small party groups.