Chicago pot smokers talk about throwing caution to the wind, lighting up in public across the city

Chicago Cops as well as police officers across the country are NOT GETTING INVOLVED. Crime is soaring everywhere!

If  you walk around enough in this city, it’s happened to you: You’re padding down a sidewalk on Milwaukee Avenue, earbuds in, just minding your own business, when the pungent smell of pot fills your nostrils. You turn on a dime just to see who the bold soul is puffing in public.

While there’s no data to suggest smoking weed in public is on the rise, many people are doing it. A decline in cigarette smoking combined with the harsher marijuana on the market these days may just make it more noticeable.

Attitudes, too, have changed with many states across the country decriminalizing the drug. In Illinois, medical marijuana is legal—with the first depositories opening up late last year—but recreational use is not.

A recent New York Times article about this very issue noted that some New Yorkers felt "more secure" these days about lighting up in public.

Andrew, a 35-year-old Bucktown resident who first got busted for smoking pot in public at age 12, said the attitude towards using the drug in public depends on the neighborhood, but he believes the overall attitudes toward pot use has changed in recent years.

“The stigma of marijuana is kind of going away,” said Andrew, who's able to balance his pot-smoking with a busy work schedule. “It’s not like some lazy stoner. People are starting to realize that pot isn’t bad for you, or that I’m not just going to sit on the couch all day. I smoke all day and I go work out. It’s not people with some hippie shirt on and watching cartoons all day.”

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