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"My guess is that the marijuana charge was brought in conjunction with the main charge -- then they dismissed the marijuana charge, keeping the other."

If that were the case, it wouldn't make any sense to just ticket marijuana smokers, would it? If the police are going to have to show up in court anyway most of the time, why would anyone consider only ticketing these people? The idea is free up police officers' time and reduce the burden on the courts. If there are other criminal charges and there is going to have to be a hearing anyway, it's no big deal to take care of the marijuana charge along with the other charge or charges pending before the court. Where the new policy would help is where marijuana possession is the only charge or where any other "charges" are things like traffic violations where people are ticketed, but not required to go to court unless they want to fight the ticket. In most of the simple marijuana possession cases our office gets there wouldn't be a need for a hearing but for the marijuana charge (and the paraphernalia charge if they have papers or a pipe when they are caught).

Here's a follow up article that examines just what kind of cases we're talking about.

Cop's Pot Ticket Idea Merits a Trial Run

Source: Daily Southtown

Chicago police officers are wasting a lot of their time and the taxpayers' money on misdemeanor marijuana cases. That was the central point last week of a pitch made by police Sgt. Thomas Donegan to his boss, Supt. Phil Crane. Donegan submitted some statistics to the superintendent, analyzing the outcome of misdemeanor possession cases involving 30 grams or less. For readers who don't have a metric conversion chart at hand, 28 grams is an ounce.

Here's what Donegan told Cline: 94 percent of cases involving less than 2.5 grams of pot got dropped last year because prosecutors didn't think they were worth pursuing, or there was something wrong with the arrest, or because the arresting officer didn't show up in court. In cases involving between 2.5 and 10 grams, 81 percent were dropped. Fifty-two percent of cases involving between 10 and 30 grams were dropped.

Donegan told his boss it's a waste of time for police officers to arrest and book somebody who is almost certainly going to be let off, and it's a waste of money to have cops spending their time making such arrests and going to court to testify about them.

There were more than 20,000 arrests in Chicago last year involving 30 grams or less, and almost 7,000 of them centered on 2.5 grams or less.

Donegan suggested that the police department could save time and the city would probably make money if, rather than arresting people for possessing minimal amounts of marijuana, police were allowed to write them a ticket.

Proponents of a ticket system believe people would be inclined to pay a fine of $250, $500 or $1,000 rather than fight the charges, so police officers wouldn't have to go to court to testify. The proposal would result in more marijuana arrests ending in a legal sanction, and the city would gain revenue rather than waste it.

The village of Darien in the western suburbs has handled misdemeanor marijuana cases with tickets since the 1970s. Police officers there have the option of writing a ticket or making a misdemeanor arrest, depending on the circumstances.

We think it would make sense for Chicago to try something along the same lines. Mayor Richard Daley seemed to say last week that he liked the idea, although one of his spokesmen backed away from the proposal the same day.

Donegan's idea makes sense to us, although we think his schedule of fines is too high. Someone facing a $500 or $1,000 fine is not necessarily going to pay it to save an hour or two, and if people don't pay the fines, cops will be right back in court.

Daley, the police department and the state's attorney ought to sit down and talk about this proposal and figure out a way to give it at least a trial run.

That is a good point. However.

Ever watch a high-speed chase on COPS? I wonder, since the guy is going to court anyway, how does the judge handle the 4 counts: Running a stop sign, 6 counts: Running a red light, 24 counts: Failure to signal a lane change, etc.

Or does he just throw those out in favor of the charges for fleeing a police officer, resisting arrest, etc.?

But, seriously, I don't know what the judges are throwing out. Knowing Chicago cops, it could be that they're using the charge to hassle the gang-bangers. They check out some "suspicious activity", find a joint, see the judge. Give these guys a ticket, and they'll use it to wipe their .... nose.

I can just hear the dialog during a "ticketed" marijuana arrest:

Cop: Got an ID?
Doper: Nope
Cop: Name?
Doper: Mr. Leroy Washington
Cop: Address?
Doper: Uh. That building, over there. Uh. Apartment 3b. I mean 3c.

(Sounds of the rest of the gang laughing in the background)

Cop: Well, here's your $500. ticket, Mr. Washington. Be sure to pay it.
Doper: Uh. Yessir. I surely will.

(Now the gang is on the ground, howling, tears running down their faces)

Yep, that'll teach them to respect Chicago cops.