Thank you for publishing Dennis Garland's letter illustrating the need for a medical cannabis program in Illinois. It is amazing how many people are upset with the health-care system in this country, but an option that would allow sick people to provide medicine for themselves at a fraction of a cost comes with such nonsensical opposition.

Before cannabis was outlawed in 1937, it was one of the most widely used medicines and many sick people still find relief from consuming this plant, whether it is smoking it, ingesting it in food or using a vaporizer. In our age of drug advertisements with a list of potential side effects, a safe and natural medicine should be legally allowed for sick Illinoisans.

[continues 191 words]

It was strange to learn that James Gierach had not heard that the Cook County Board voted Tuesday to issue the equivalent of parking tickets to marijuana smokers.

For 20 years, the Palos Park attorney has been telling people that all drugs should be decriminalized. He ran for Cook County state's attorney on the issue in 1992 and for governor two years later.

"No, I had not heard that," Gierach said, when I told him the county board had voted to give sheriff's police the option of issuing $200 tickets to people in unincorporated areas who were caught with 10 grams or less of marijuana. "But that's good."

[continues 704 words]

Walter Cronkite, once the most trusted man in America and a leading figure in broadcast journalism's Mount Rushmore, believed the nation's war on drugs was unwinnable, and he said so on television. A decade after his years with CBS News, Mr. Cronkite succeeded in raising public awareness of the war's futility and provoking a Bill O'Reilly rant.

Of course, Mr. Cronkite is famous for having reached the same correct conclusion about the Vietnam War in 1968. All of his obituaries have recalled Mr. Cronkite's special report from Vietnam, his characterization of the war as stalemate and his call for a negotiated peace. President Lyndon B. Johnson was famously quoted as saying, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Later that year, Mr. Johnson decided not to seek re-election.

[continues 623 words]

Your editorial supporting the partial decriminalization of marijuana in Cook County was right on the money. We must find better ways to deal with the possession of small amounts of pot than jail time and a permanent criminal record.

Why? Our local governments need all the cash they can get to deal with serious social problems -- underfunded schools, health care for the poor, and crumbling infrastructure, among other things. We have no money to waste. Yet today, we're spending dollar upon dollar arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people for nonviolent behavior that could be corrected through inexpensive treatment. Is that a wise use of taxpayer money?

[continues 114 words]

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was surprised this week when an ordinance that would treat marijuana possession much like a traffic offense landed on his desk.

Sheriff Tom Dart -- who you'd think would have been consulted on this one -- was taken by surprise, too.

The measure would give Dart's officers discretion to issue a $200 ticket instead of making a misdemeanor arrest in cases where the suspect was carrying less than 10 grams of marijuana.

Commissioner Earlean Collins, who was distressed that her grandson was busted over "half a joint," introduced the ordinance. Her fellow commissioners obligingly passed it. Stroger, who initially said he "didn't think it's such a great idea," now says he won't veto it. We're not sure who explained to him why it's a good idea after all, but a sheriff's spokesman said Dart's phone did not ring.

[continues 556 words]

The latest state traffic study on who gets pulled over by police shows once again that minorities are more likely to be the subject of so-called consent searches although police are more likely to find contraband in the vehicles of white drivers.

The results of the annual state study were not a surprise to civil rights activists who are opposed to the searches, which are done with the consent of the driver.

According to the 2008 study, released earlier this month, when a vehicle of a white driver was "consent-searched," officers statewide found contraband 24.7 percent of the time. When a vehicle driven by a minority was searched, officers found contraband 15.4 percent of the time.

[continues 464 words]

There is a push to rework the DARE program because there are several very credible studies that indicate DARE does not work and, in many cases, encourages drug experimentation and drug use by youth.

The surgeon general of the United States and the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse have looked at the data, and both have stated DARE doesn't work.

Dennis Rosenbaum, head of the Criminal Justice Department for the University of Illinois, found in a six-year study that DARE kids used the same amount of drugs as non-DARE kids. Over $220 million a year is spent on DARE programs funded primarily through municipal taxes and donations.

[continues 53 words]

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said Thursday he won't stand in the way of legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

This week, the County Board approved a measure allowing sheriff's police to issue a $200 ticket for possessing 10 grams or less of marijuana in unincorporated parts of the county.

The ordinance took Stroger, the sheriff and others by surprise, and the board president said he was mulling a veto.

But Thursday, he told the Chicago Sun-Times he's OK with the legislation, calling it just another option for sheriff's police, who will have the discretion to arrest someone on misdemeanor charges -- particularly a repeat offender.

[continues 365 words]

The so-called war on drugs was lost long ago. Every U.S. city is infected by the virus of illegal drugs. Bloodshed, mayhem, destroyed families and lost lives are increasing. If you don't believe it, just read the newspapers, magazines and TV reports that are being seen more often. The U.S. continues throwing vast sums of money at the problem which just gets worse. Solutions are available and at great savings over current policies. Most of our legislators are afraid of the issue thinking that if they propose alternatives they will be put down as soft on crime.

[continues 271 words]

LOVES PARK — Budget constraints will cost the Loves Park Police Department its DARE program.

The department will not continue its Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in schools this fall. The program brings an officer into the classroom to help students learn how to deal with the pressures associated with drugs and violence.

“It’s not because of the program itself,” Loves Park Police Chief Pat Carrigan said. “We believe in it, we think it’s important, we just don’t have the luxury to right now to be able to assign an individual to be able to handle that any longer.”

[continues 319 words]

The last three presidents of the United States all smoked a little weed.

Obama, Clinton and Bush were young and curious and, fortunately, never got busted. A criminal record tends to put a damper on White House dreams.

And yet thousands of Americans are busted for pot each year, even now in 2009, ironically arrested by cops who (let's call this a safe guess) may have smoked a joint or two themselves in their time.

We are such a nation of hypocrites.

[continues 575 words]

The Illinois Chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws supports Cook County's efforts to ticket cannabis offenders.

The problem with the cannabis decriminalization ordinance, however, is that it allows the officers to use their discretion and can issue an arrest or a ticket. This will lead to cases of discriminatory arrests.

A better policy would be to simply issue the ticket and allow the officer to arrest the subject only if they have a warrant or are breaking some other law. Cannabis should be legal and regulated like alcohol and tobacco and until that happens ticketing cannabis offenders is much better than arresting them; however, so long as the market is still illegal problems will occur.

Until the underground market is brought above the table and legal cannabis prohibition will bring about the same problems that alcohol prohibition did.

Dan Linn

Chicago

[end]

Sensible voters of Lake County, it is time to admit we have made a mistake electing Mark Kirk for four terms. Now, it is time to prevent this laughable moderate from gaining any more power. Such a "progressive" thinker still has some outlandish idea that "kush" is a problem. Perhaps he could recognize that marijuana is not the problem, or even an issue, and he could stop trying to put more control on a substance that is less dangerous than a glass of wine. Here's a thought, maybe it could jump-start the economy a bit.

Peter Keating

Long Grove

[end]

I am in favor of medical marijuana and outright legalization, taxed and regulated. There is no legitimate reason for it to be illegal, other than lobbying from big Pharma, alcohol companies, prisons and lies. This is a no-brainer, and I hope common sense prevails soon.

Michael Godziszewski,

Franklin Park

[end]

Marijuana letter was full of disinformation The letter in Wednesday's paper by Vita Zemaitis was impressive. Seldom have I read a letter that was so jam-packed with misinformation, disinformation, old wives' tales and general nonsense.

As an example, the letter ends by first calling marijuana a stimulant and then warning about addiction. Neither of these facts are supported in any unbiased research. Marijuana is not addictive and it is not a stimulant, but these are just the most egregious of the claims in this letter.

[continues 180 words]

Question of legalizing pot or, to be precise, cannabis is in the news again. It's not a solution to the various problems facing the increasingly difficult lives of many people in the United States.

According to Merck's Medical Manual, "People who use large quantities of marijuana may become confused; driving is dangerous; panic reactions occur. It can cause red, bloodshot eyes, irregular heartbeat and reduces production of testosterone." In case you did not know, testosterone is needed to build muscles.

[continues 123 words]

Your newspaper had an article about changing drug laws, mainly cocaine laws ("Review of cocaine sentences sought," Nation&World, June 28).

I have long wondered how you could murder someone and get such a low sentence, while drug laws usually sentence a person to much longer times.

There really isn't a difference between powder cocaine and crack cocaine because the buyer will either shoot up the powder or cook it down to rock. It's all the same drug, and basically the same high.

[continues 87 words]

Proposed measures that would legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in Illinois are typically introduced each session in Springfield.

This year, two similar proposals were introduced and both gained some traction.

Senate Bill 1381 would allow people with a doctor's permission to be eligible for a state registry card allowing up to six marijuana plants in their homes and 2 ounces of "usable cannabis." If approved, the measure would expire after three years.

That measure was approved 30-28 on May 27 by the Senate. It was also passed out of a House committee, but the 118 member House has yet to take final action on it.

[continues 148 words]

Congressman Mark Kirk's proposed legislation increasing penalties for "super pot" is a blatant attempt to shore up conservative credentials following his recent divorce and desire to seek higher office. At a time when some states are looking to tax and regulate cannabis to help with struggling budgets (California and Massachusetts) and others are passing or at least considering medical cannabis programs (13 states have medical cannabis laws), Rep. Kirk thinks a lock 'em up and throw away the key approach will eliminate dealers. The proposed bill is nothing more than political chest thumping.

[continues 161 words]

Ill. Director in 'Political Hot Potato'

SYCAMORE - The effort to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois is often run from a dining room table in a rural Sycamore home.

Dan Linn is executive director of Illinois NORML - the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws - and splits his time between a family home in Sycamore and an apartment in Chicago, as well as a fair amount of time in Springfield when lawmakers are in session.

Given the organization's constant presence in the Illinois statehouse, many think the organization has a large Chicago office with dozens of staff members. It's to the point where he annually gets calls from students wanting to intern for the summer or unsolicited resumes from those who want to work for him.

[continues 739 words]