The Daily Northwestern — November 5, 2015

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sports Men’s Soccer Wildcats finish regular season on low note » PAGE 12

Student-written show goes Off-Broadway » PAGE 5 arts & Local group to premiere play on divorce » PAGE 6 entertainment Q&A: Vanessa Carlton talks new music » PAGE 7

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The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM

Thursday, November 5, 2015

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Residents discuss medical weed By ROBIN OPSAHL

the daily northwestern @robinlopsahl

a college campus. “His strength as a leader of the religious

Days before Evanston’s medical marijuana dispensary opens its doors, community members expressed concerns about doctor compliance and cost at a public meeting Wednesday. After 10 months of planning, Pharmacannis Health & Wellness Center is set to open Monday in a storefront at 1804 Maple Ave. Pharmacannis co-CEO Teddy Scott discussed at the meeting that Illinois’ system surrounding medical marijuana is much stricter than other states, causing problems for patient access. Nearly 40 people attended the meeting Wednesday at downtown Evanston’s Hilton Garden Inn, 1818 Maple Ave., led by Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd) and dispensary officials. The state determined in February that Pharmacannis’ application to operate in Illinois was the highest-scoring in the region, later authorizing the company to take steps to open a dispensary in Evanston. “It’s going to be a healthcare facility run like a pharmaceutical company,” Scott said, “We need to make sure it’s not being abused.” Several people at the meeting were patients with one of the 39 diseases outlined by the Illinois Department of Public Health that qualify patients to receive medical marijuana. Nancy Schwartz, an Evanston resident who is considering using medical marijuana, said her doctor isn’t comfortable prescribing cannabis. “Some doctors still have their reservations about medical cannabis,” Schwartz told The Daily. “That means people who need this, who are suffering, don’t have a way to get around their physicians’ views.” Because Illinois’ medical marijuana pilot program mandates that the doctor and patient have a “bonafide” relationship for the treatment to be prescribed, patients don’t have an option to receive treatment if their current physician isn’t willing to prescribe it. This becomes a problem for patients who have applied for a $70 medical marijuana card and aren’t able to get refunded. Community members at the meeting also raised concerns that medical marijuana prices may be too high for lowincome patients, considering an average patient buys $300 of marijuana a month, according to data from Pharmacannis. Insurers aren’t predicted to cover medical cannabis for another few years, Scott said. Scott said although the company wants to make products affordable, it needs to keep its costs above “black market” standards so patients aren’t reselling the medical marijuana for a profit. “Its not as simple as being able to give it out to someone for free,” he said. Other residents questioned how Evanston police will discern between medical and recreational marijuana. Carrying fewer than 10 grams of marijuana is decriminalized in Evanston, and medical marijuana users can buy up to 2.5 grams every two weeks with their medical card.

» See VIOLENCE, page 9

» See MARIJUANA, page 9

Zack Laurence/The Daily Northwestern

WINTER CAME EARLY George R.R. Martin talks with the audience about the future of his fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” as he participates in a Q&A at Cahn Auditorium. Martin returned to Northwestern on Wednesday to accept a Medill Hall of Achievement award.

Martin accepts achievement award By PETER KOTECKI

daily senior staffer @peterkotecki

“A Song of Ice and Fire” author George R. R. Martin (Medill ‘70, ‘71) returned to his alma mater Wednesday to accept a Hall of Achievement award and engage in a Q&A with Northwestern students and faculty on his bestselling fantasy series. The event was held at Cahn Auditorium and was moderated by Entertainment Weekly writer Darren Franich, the Asian American Journalists Association’s national vice president for broadcast Niala Boodhoo and Medill sophomore Mariana Alfaro, who is a Daily senior staffer. The author’s fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” was adapted into HBO’s Emmy Award-winning show, “Game of Thrones,” in 2011. Martin has written

one episode for each of the show’s first four seasons and works as one of its executive producers. Martin said “Game of Thrones” is the most viewed show in HBO’s history, and it has gained popularity internationally. The show’s success is related to its universality, he said. “Swords and kings and dragons and magic — these are legends that are common to many cultures throughout the world,” Martin said. “Virtually every civilization that we know of passed through a period when there were kings and wars.” The success of “A Song of Ice and Fire” has been an exciting experience for Martin, but writing is not a career for someone who desires a stable lifestyle, he said. “It is a profession for people who can live with violent reversals of fortune,” Martin said. “It’s hard to get used to, particularly when you’re young.” Online publications that review

“Game of Thrones” on a weekly basis give an incredible level of attention to each episode, Martin said. Although some of the reviews are very perceptive, he said online reviews are generally unbalanced because many great shows do not receive the media attention they deserve. In addition, Martin said the quality of certain stories he reads online is very low. “The general quality of Internet journalism, as I experience it more and more, is appalling,” he said. “Whatever journalistic standards I learned here at Medill certainly don’t seem to apply on the Internet anymore.” Martin discussed the future of science fiction writing and said the genre is currently experiencing a crisis. In the past, when asked about the future, Martin said people’s outlook was very positive. Now, however, people seem to approach the future with pessimism as they discuss

topics such as pollution, global warming and nuclear proliferation, he said. “All of this I think has affected science fiction,” Martin said. “We are afraid of the world of tomorrow.” Martin also said he thinks stories can contain elements of tragedy and darkness without losing hope. “Myself, I am attracted to the bittersweet ending,” he said. “People have asked me how ‘Game of Thrones’ is going to end, and I’m not going to tell them the specifics, but I’ve always said to expect something bittersweet.” In addition, Martin referenced J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and said Tolkien wrote a brilliant, bittersweet ending to the trilogy. “When I look at it now, that’s brilliant — it’s brilliant that Frodo never heals,” Martin said. “He won a battle but not for himself. In my mind, these closing » See MARTIN, page 9

Rabbi calls for religious tolerance in talk By ROBBIE MARKUS

the daily northwestern

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, a religious leader, philosopher and author, spoke Wednesday in Harris Hall to a crowd of more than 200 about confronting modern religious violence. Sacks, who is currently a professor at New York University and Yeshiva University, has had a long and distinguished career. While serving as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991-2013, Sacks wrote more than 20 books on various religious topics. On the 20th anniversary of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, Sacks promoted religious tolerance and said having faith includes recognizing other faiths. “How is it throughout history, people have come to hate in the name of the God of love?” he asked. “To kill in the name of the God of love? To wage war in the name of the God of peace?”

Rabin was murdered by an Israeli extremist who opposed Rabin’s peace talks with Palestinians. Sacks related his death to the theory of dualism, the idea that the world has two powers at work in the universe: God and a figure of evil. When bad things happen, dualists question who did these terrible things to them and blame different religious groups, Sacks explained. This leads to religious violence, as in Rabin’s case, he said. “Dualism is quite possibly the most dangerous phenomenon known in the history of humans,” Sacks said. “We cannot attribute evil to some independent force in the universe”. Wednesday was Sacks’ first time speaking at Northwestern since 2011, when he discussed his book, “The Dignity of Difference.” NU Hillel Executive Director Michael Simon said Sacks’ 2011 event was a huge success, and he was thrilled to bring the rabbi back. “We hosted him four years ago, and it was a pretty large audience of students and community members,” Simon said.

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DISCUSSING VIOLENCE Rabbi Jonathan Sacks addresses students at Harris Hall on Wednesday. Sacks discussed confronting religious violence through tolerance and said people can prevent violence by recognizing that those with different religious beliefs are not enemies.

“He has a message that resonates beyond a Jewish audience”. Weinberg senior Romy Bareket said Sacks impacted him as a modern Jew on

INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | A&E 5 | Classifieds & Puzzles 10 | Sports 12


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