Tuesday, August 21, 2012

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — The top elected Democrat in Cook County said Tuesday that former President Ronald Reagan deserved "a special place in hell" for his role in the war on drugs, asserting that misguided anti-drug policies were to blame for putting more minorities behind bars.

Hours later, under criticism from state Republicans, Toni Preckwinkle said she regretted what she referred to as an "inflammatory" remark but stood by her overall message on drug policy.

Preckwinkle, the Cook County board president, made the Reagan comment at a conference in central Illinois while defending Chicago's recent decision to allow police to ticket people for possession of small amounts of marijuana rather than arresting them.

She said that Reagan deserved a "special place in hell" for his hand in "making drug use political."

Audience members gasped.

"What? You didn't like that?" Preckwinkle said, according to the Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/RAasNi ).

Reagan, the revered Republican icon who died in 2004, was born in Illinois, and Preckwinkle's comment swiftly drew criticism.

"I think it was a really unfortunate choice of words to speak of one of the most revered presidents of the 20th century in that manner," said County Commissioner Timothy Schneider, a Republican.

Preckwinkle told the Tribune in a phone interview later Tuesday that Reagan's policies were among those that resulted in sending African Americans and Latinos to jail and prison in disproportionate numbers. She also blamed the policies for driving up government costs and damaging communities.

"Drug policy in this country has been in the wrong direction for 30 years," she said. "I think that's something they should acknowledge. If I had it to do over again, I certainly wouldn't say anything quite so inflammatory. But my position basically remains the same."