Officer Cheech, Meet Officer Chong
Along with lowered hiring standards, now they're going to allow weed?
A Chicago police officer who faced dismissal after testing positive for marijuana can remain on the job, the Chicago Police Board ruled in its first weed-related decision since the drug was legalized.
Police Supt. Larry Snelling had pushed to fire Officer Marshall Andrews Jr. for failing a random drug test in August 2021, but the board instead voted Thursday to suspend the veteran cop for 90 days.
“While the board has discharged officers from CPD in the past for using cannabis, medical and recreational use of cannabis is now permitted by Illinois state law,” the board wrote in its written ruling, noting that future discipline will be assessed “on a case-by-case basis.”
Still, the ruling could set a precedent for two other pending disciplinary cases in which officers face firing for allegedly using cannabis.
No doubt someone is going to write something about alcohol use and the CPD's long tradition of drinking to excess and then killing civilians while off duty. Alcohol has been legal for a long time, but so have the consequences for doing something stupid while drunk. We can name more than a few coppers who got fired and/or served hard time after having had way too many. We could name even more who got away with lesser incidents.
But the thing about weed is, it sticks around a long time. You might not be actively high, but if you get into a shooting, on or off duty, or a car accident, or pretty much anything, even a hint of marijuana in your system from a week ago or a month ago is going to open up you and the City taxpayers to mountains of litigation. You're already subject to a breath test following a shooting, maybe even an accident. But under the "consent decree," how soon will a mandatory blood, urine or hair sample be forced on anyone using force of any sort?
Not to mention that marijuana use is still a restriction on the Firearms Transaction Record Form 4473 Section 21(f) meaning you can't buy a gun.
This is a potential disaster of epic proportions.
Labels: dumb ideas