Fare Thee Well - the boisterous three-day celebration of all things Grateful Dead in Chicago held this past weekend - apparently went well for weed smokers. Despite hundreds of thousands of attendees for the send-off concerts at Soldier Field - and countless pounds of marijuana being consumed - only one arrest was made and two other tickets were written for possessing less than 15 grams of pot.
That's pretty impressive, but firedoglake.com isn't buying the hype. In the post, "If Only Chicago Police Treated All Marijuana Smokers As If They Were Deadheads," Kevin Gosztola questions the kid-gloves treatment afforded concertgoers, who were probably 95% white, while African Americans and Hispanics are arrested four times as often as whites in Chicago for weed.
"Police should treat white, black, or brown Chicagoans like Deadheads," he maintains. "This should be the policy for marijuana smoking and possession not only when other major events take place in the city but whenever the sun rises."
It's a good thing that a lot of white people weren't rounded up for pot at the Grateful Dead shows in Chicago this past weekend.
Indeed, but the fact is Chicago decriminalized marijuana in 2012, reducing possession of 15 grams or less from a misdemeanor to a non-criminal summons ($250-$500 fine). Possession of more than 15 grams is still a crime. One Deadhead was charged with that, while the other two received summonses.
Marijuana arrests declined 22% in 2014 from the previous year (14,000 to 11,000). However, tickets quadrupled, from 1,000 to 4,000 during the same time period.
Another reason for the lack of concentration on Soldier Field was the spate of violence in other areas of the city over the weekend. Seven people were killed and another 40 shot in numerous incidents. “CPD’s primary focus was on fighting violent crime and addressing the illegal guns that threaten our communities,” the police department's communications director Anthony Guglielmi stated.
Had it been Snoop Dogg performing at a similar career-ending event, FDL contends, there would've been police dressed in riot gear. tear gas and hundreds of arrests. Perhaps, but then again, maybe not. Regardless of the racial issues surrounding the drug war, it's a good thing that a lot of white people weren't rounded up for pot at the Grateful Dead shows in Chicago. Progress comes in all shapes and sizes, and yes, colors.
