URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n002/a05.html
Newshawk: http://www.illinoisnorml.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Dec 2012
Source: Courier News (Elgin, IL)
Copyright: 2012 Dan Linn
Contact: Courier.Viewpoint@scn1.com
Website: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1200
Author: Dan Linn
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n665/a08.html
MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOT THE REAL THREAT TO KIDS

In response to Judy Kreamer’s letter ( Dec.  28 ) about medical marijuana, it should be understood that many of those admissions to treatment centers for marijuana are the result of a judge offering jail time or rehab and are not voluntary admissions by people who feel they are addicted to marijuana.

Also, her fears about children getting access to this medicine are unfounded, as there has never been a documented overdose fatality from marijuana use, for medical purposes or otherwise.

If she is concerned about children getting access to medicine that is truly dangerous, the pill-mill doctors who recklessly prescribe opioid based painkillers are where she should focus.  Those pills are in many medicine cabinets across the country and have been the main reason so many young people are dying from drugs in suburban America.

Illinois lawmakers have been debating medical marijuana for many years now, and hopefully they can pass a bill that would protect some very sick people from arrest and give them safe and legal access to this medicine.  The bill currently being debated in Springfield has very specific conditions that would qualify for a medical cannabis card, and surely no teenager would be willing to contract HIV in order to legally get marijuana.  Furthermore, parental permission is required for minors who have a listed condition.

Kreamer’s intentions to protect the children are noble, but she doesn’t mention any of the people who are struggling to live and would be helped if Illinois were to allow doctors to recommend marijuana.  Plus, medical cannabis patients don’t want a program that could be abused, because there is a provision for the law to expire after three years.  That provision and limiting the qualifying conditions are all things that lawmakers have added to this measure over the years of debating this issue.

Unfortunately, over those years, many sick people have been denied legal access to this well-documented medicine, too.  It is immoral to continue to incriminate cancer patients who need this medicine to eat and continue their chemotherapy.  It is immoral to force multiple sclerosis patients to get their medicine from an illegal and unregulated dealer.  It is immoral to deny medicine to those who need it because of scare tactics aimed at parents.

Dan Linn

Executive director, Illinois chapter of NORML ( National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws )

Sycamore

MAP posted-by: Jo-D

A bid to legalize medical cannabis in Illinois is sputtering out, with a key lawmaker saying it’s unlikely he will put an MMJ measure up for a vote in the state House by the Jan. 8 deadline.

“Looks like it is not going to happen right now,” Illinois State Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) wrote in an email response to questions by Medical Marijuana Business Daily.

Lang said he doesn’t have time today to explain the situation. But he indicated that his decision to let the bill die without a vote doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of support among lawmakers.

“It has little to do with vote count,” he wrote.

Just a few weeks ago, it appeared that Illinois had a real shot at becoming the 19th US state to legalize medical cannabis. An MMJ bill had already cleared the state Senate, and Lang expressed optimism that he could get the 60 votes needed to pass a similar proposal in the House.

Several supportive lawmakers began wavering in late November ahead of the initial scheduled vote on the bill. But Lang was able to extend the final deadline for a vote to Jan. 8 and has remained optimistic about its chances of passage, saying he needs a little extra time to gain support from his peers.

The bill – which has seven co-sponsors aside from Lang – calls for a three-year pilot program allowing registered patients to obtain medical marijuana from licensed, regulated nonprofit dispensaries under one of the strictest regulatory frameworks in the country.

Illinois would be a huge win for the medical cannabis industry. The state is home to roughly 13 million people (which ranks fifth in the country by population), giving it a potential market of around 260,000 MMJ patients.

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