Nicotine Gum Fiasco

Prosecutors just dropped the charges against Eric Baah, a Calumet City teacher who gave sixth-graders nicotine gum in class. Yeah, you read that right – a teacher thought it was a good idea to hand out nicotine gum to 11-year-olds.

It all went down back in October, and now seven families are considering a lawsuit. Their lawyer, Jarrett Adams, says they’re ‘exploring our civil opportunities to bring closure in this matter.’ No lawsuit’s been filed yet, but it’s probably only a matter of time.

A Lack of Evidence

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office claims they didn’t have enough evidence to prove Baah was guilty. The office said, ‘Prosecutors have an obligation in every case to evaluate the evidence throughout a criminal proceeding and act accordingly in the pursuit of justice.’ Translation: they didn’t have enough to make it stick.

Baah was initially charged with seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct/bodily harm. He’s been on administrative leave since October, and the school board’s already considered his resignation letter.

Outrage and Disappointment

Local alderman Monet Wilson’s not happy about the charges being dropped. She thinks it’s ‘unacceptable’ and believes the response would’ve been different if this happened in a richer neighborhood. ‘Our children deserve the same urgency, protection and accountability regardless of their ZIP code,’ she said.

One mom, Daphin March, found out her kid was given the gum when he started feeling nauseous and was taken to urgent care. Turns out, he was showing signs of nicotine poisoning. She’s still shaken, saying she’s ‘kind of nervous even about letting my son go back to the school, because not only do I have to worry about my son with a student messing with him, now I’ve got to worry about teachers.’