Don’t hold your breath for the state of Illinois to change its costly approach to busting people caught with pot.
Fifteen other states have passed decriminalization laws, and Chicago recently joined more than 90 other Illinois municipalities in making pot possession a ticketable infraction locally. Yet our legislators have tabled a series of proposals that would do the same thing across Illinois.
There are no signs that changes will come anytime soon.
“I have not heard any discussion on it,” says Steve Brown, the longtime spokesman for Illinois house speaker Michael Madigan.