SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2011 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | 25A
CHICAGO
ANOTHER VIEW | TOM TOLES
WE THINK
John Barron Publisher Tom McNamee Editorial Page Editor
A N I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R
Don Hayner Editor in Chief Andrew Herrmann Managing Editor
Legalize marijuana for certain illnesses
specific medical conditions to purchase marijuana from not-forprofit dispensaries, so long as they have proof of medical need from their doctor. A database would be set up to make sure patients dont buy more than 2.5 ounces every 14 days. And the law would expire, if not renewed, in three years. Lawmakers should not fear that supporting this bill will make them look soft on crime. A national poll conducted last year by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 81 percent of Americans favor legalizing medical marijuana. Will there be abuses? Of course. The same can be said of legal prescription painkillers, whose misuse can be far more dangerous. But the multiple safeguards written into this carefully crafted bill should keep the unintended consequences to a minimum while finally giving to people in great physical pain the relief they need.
easonable people see a difference between using marijuana to treat the symptoms of a serious illness and passing out joints on a playground. Yet both acts, under current law, are criminal. State lawmakers can fix that by passing a pending bill, which in previous years has been shot down, that would legalize the medical use of marijuana by people with cancer, HIV, Crohns disease and several other illnesses. Fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana, which has been shown to reduce the nausea and vomiting that are typical side effects of anti-cancer drugs. It also is effective in improving the appetite of AIDS patients, treating the pain of multiple sclerosis and treating the pressure within the eye caused by glaucoma. A measure before the Illinois House would allow people with
City clams up in Koschman case
CAROL MARIN
this tragic case. Was it done by the book? Or did Vanecko, who was not charged, get VIP treatment? My son was a VIP in my eyes, said Nanci Koschman. Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez cant find a single record, document, log entry or email that memorializes her offices involvement. And the Chicago Police Department, citing an ongoing investigation, refuses to release unredacted police reports, street files or line-up photos. Sun-Times reporters Tim Novak and Chris Fusco confirmed documents. And with no proper reason except to slow down an investigation. Jennifer Hoyle, spokeswoman for the Law Department, disputed that, saying on Friday, We have always to cooperate with the IG. But Hoffman contends there are multiple ways to blockade the flow of information, including when the boss of the Law Department, Mara Georges, invokes attorney-client privilege. In a probe begun by Hoffman and continued by Ferguson, the IG wanted to know who gave a former aide to Daley a $100,000 no-bid contract in 2006 in apparent violation of the citys ethics and contraction rules. The Law Department wouldnt hand [documents] over . . . even though we are part of the city, said Hoffman. Ferguson sued Georges on the privilege issue. But he lost the first round in Circuit Court. A second round is being waged in the Illinois Appellate Court, where a verdict could come any day. Privilege is sacred, Georges once told an approving audience of her clients, the aldermen. The citys message is clear. Information is theirs. It belongs to them. To keep, to hold, to hide from public view. Think of David Koschmans case as a tree. Now step back and see a forest.
Analogy appallingly offensive
his may rack up as one of the biggest stretches in logic of all times. As well as one of the most offensive. A Downstate gun-rights group this month compared an effort to publish the names of gun owners in Illinois with the tyrannical and fateful Nazi decision during World War II to force Jews to wear a gold Star of David, identifying them by their religion. The analogy by the gun-rights group was prompted by a recent ruling by Attorney General Lisa Madigan that the names of residents with Firearm Owner ID cards must be made public. The slippery slope for the Jews in Germany began first with their identification, then disarmament then annihilation, the group, Guns Save Life, wrote. Under Madigans plan, Illinois gun owners will be identified publicly and will stand on the precipice of their own slippery slope towards ends
unknown. Guns Save Life printed a picture of an Israeli Jewish star with the word Armed above it. Over the gold Star of David, it reads Disarmed. The groups twisted logic lays bare a profound disregard for historical truth. It was not the identification of Jews, or the loss of their firearms, that led to their deaths in the gas chambers. It was a maniacal government, supported by powerful cultural forces, that led to mass Jewish deaths. To liken that march toward death to the simple naming of people who applied for a government ID card in Illinois is absurd. There are legitimate arguments against releasing the names of gun owners, arguments that have been articulated by thoughtful gunrights advocates. But nobody has dared to resort to this kind of craven and offensive twisting of history until now.
cmarin@suntimes.com
anci Koschman remembers Easter long ago when her son, David, was little. His dad would take baby powder to make footprints on the floor like the bunny was leaving eggs, she said by phone on Friday from her home in Mount Prospect. Parents hold their memories close and, in Nanci Koschmans case, closer still this Easter because it falls on the seventh anniversary of the last time she kissed her 21-year-old son goodbye as he set out for Chicago with his buddies. As readers of the Sun-Times know well, David Koschmans group ran into another group in the early hours of the next morning along the bars of Division Street. In an altercation, police confirm, a punch was thrown by Mayor Daleys nephew Richard J. R.J. Vanecko from which David Koschman would ultimately die. Its a heartbreaking story for Nanci Koschman and her family, as it must be for R.J. Vanecko and his. But seven years later, authorities still refuse to reveal exactly how law enforcement dealt with
If history is any guide, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson will not have an easy time.
that the ongoing investigation in question is being conducted by the independent Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, though Ferguson declines to comment. If history is any guide, Ferguson will not have an easy time. David Hoffman, his predecessor, knows a lot about hitting brick walls in Daleys allegedly transparent city. By ordinance, the IG has access legally to all the citys documents, said Hoffman on Friday. But there were a significant number of times when the city Law Department, working with other departments, delayed or only gave us partial
