Questioning the Rationale and Practicality of the Current Legal Regime The first principle of the law in the USA is equality. That may not quite square up to the enhanced sentencing regime for designated drug free zones in Chicago. The current trends owe their origins partly to the 1980s when…
Even as some states such as Colorado move to deregulate some previously controlled substances or drugs, Chicago still grapples with the offense of Marijuana possession. At the moment, the state has decriminalized possession but not the actual smoking of pot, which in itself represents a dangerous contradiction. People buy and…
Recently, President Barack Obama pardoned a number of people who had been given mandatory sentences for drug trafficking that many in the legal profession considered to be excessive. More worrisome was the notion that the judge in a court case lost the right of discretion at sentencing because the mandatory…
Recently there has been some legal argument as to the criminal consequences of heroin-related deaths in Cook County and DuPage County. This country discusses the possibilities and limitations of criminal liability. The case of 21-year old Christopher Houdek is interesting. Apparently he and a girlfriend Adrianna Diana (20) cooked and…
Local agencies in Illinois are getting concerned about the increasing use of designer drugs, particularly as it relates to driving offenses. Incidents of bizarre behavior that is clearly out of the ordinary are being reported regularly. It is almost as if there is something in the water but the truth…
At first blush, the idea of predictive policing sounds a lot like something out of the movie Minority Report. In order to target their policing efforts, the Chicago Police Department uses a high-tech database of persons, which it refers to as the Strategic Subject List, who are most likely to…
The legalization of recreational marijuana in several states over the last few years has created a business opportunity that some people are finding difficult to resist. Non-commercial cultivators in states like Colorado that have legalized recreational marijuana have little legal regulation, and even less oversight, and with prices for their…
Ecstasy, increasingly referred to as Molly, is the street name for the drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine). Whatever you call it, Ecstasy is a synthetic and psychoactive drug, with similarities to stimulants like amphetamine and with similarities to hallucinogens, like mescaline. Those who take it report experiencing euphoria, increased energy, warmth and…
It is against the law in Illinois to possess any amount of cocaine at all. Cocaine, a stimulant derived from the coca plant, is classified as a Schedule I drug in Illinois. The penalties for the possession of cocaine are set out in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act at 720…
In October of this year, there were more than 100 heroin overdoses in Chicago, including 74 in a 72 hour period. Police blame one batch of heroin that swept through Chicago’s West Side, which was laced with the drug fentanyl, a powerful painkiller. Most of the users who overdosed obtained…