Two items of interest appeared this week in the Aurora Beacon News that may affect those who enjoy a buzz.

For drinkers, DUI enforcement will toughen up as Kane County state's attorney John Barsanti unveiled a "no refusal" weekend initiative in which police can almost immediately collect a blood sample from a driver in custody on a drunken driving charge.

According to the May 15 article, Barsanti declined to offer specifics about the first "no refusal" weekend other than to say it will happen soon and more regularly in the future.  St. Charles, Batavia and Geneva Police Departments, and the Kane County Sheriff are the first law enforcement agencies scheduled to participate.

That same day, the paper also reported that an ordinance change is pending in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois and largest city in Kane County, that would allow police to issue a ticket rather than make an arrest for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana.  The reported rationale for the change is that tickets could keep such cases out of circuit court, meaning fines would never leave the city.

Read more about new DUI enforcement.

Read more about proposed marijuana possession ordinance.