Illinois Medical Marijuana Prospects Improve As House Republican Announces Support

The most recent lame-duck session in the Illinois state legislature was a busy one, and one that resulted in the passage of a good deal of progressive legislation. Income taxes were raised from three to five percent to protect vital human services from cuts during a massive budget crisis; civil unions were ratified for same-sex couples; the death penalty was banned.

One piece of legislation, however, came up just short. After passing in the State Senate in 2009, a measure to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois failed in the House by a vote of 59-53 in December of 2010.

But an unexpected change of heart by a Republican leader in that chamber has given the measure a sudden breath of new life.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross announced last week that he would support legalization, after speaking with a number of people who use medical marijuana -- including a disabled veteran, FOX Chicago reports.

State Representative Lou Lang, the sponsor of HB 30, was excited by the news. “The best prospects for passing this bill now comes because we have cooperation from the other side of the aisle,” said Lang, according to the Illinois Observer.

In an editorial in the Chicago Tribune, the executive director of the Illinois Family Institute railed against Cross's decision. From the David E. Smith column:

House Republican Leader Tom Cross recently announced that he now supports HB 30, the medical marijuana legalization bill. This is very disconcerting. ...

Should state lawmakers ignore the many warnings by federal authorities like the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Drug Enforcement Agency? Should lawmakers ignore the law enforcement community objections, including the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and Illinois Sheriffs' Association, among others? ...

Medical marijuana is bad policy, bad for families, bad for society, and will cost the state more money for drug rehab.

In fact, as reported during the bill's consideration last year, medical experts suggest that marijuana could serve as a safer and significantly less addictive alternative to pain killers like Vicodin and Oxycontin. Many chronic pain sufferers rely on these drugs, which can be lethal if overdosed.

"The medical profession has no controversy on this, to speak of," Illinois Public Health Advocate Dr. Quentin Young told WBBM at the time.

Cross's vote alone doesn't guarantee passage for the bill, but if he can bring along members of his House Republican caucus, HB 30 could well see passage under the current legislature.

As written, the measure limits to two ounces the amount of usable marijuana a person can possess; allows for its use only among sufferers of debilitating illnesses like Crohn's or multiple sclerosis; and prevents users from driving within 12 hours of smoking.

Comments

[slbts]

01:39 AM on 05/03/2011

We have many people from Illinois come and stay with us, the euphoria here last a life time.
http://soberlivingblog.wordpress.com

[BannedNBoston]

08:25 PM on 04/29/2011

Heres or DEMOCRATIC GOV in action
Lynch vetoes medical marijuana bill - Friday, Jul. 10, 2009

The governor cited “inconsistencies and structural problems ... (that) would pose barriers to controls aimed at preventing the unauthorized use of marijuana.”
www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=41a9feee-02b4-4304-b1b7-7a44217412bf&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck02k6d-_nI

[gunthli]

07:20 PM on 04/27/2011

Ok, enough of this nonsense. Even cops support medical marijuana - you ask any cop, "When was the last time you arrested someone disturbing the peace or fighting?" They'll say never. Pot doesn't exactly make you motivated. You want to eat something and then go to sleep. It works out very well in CA. Hell, if they taxed it and regulated it, we would have no deficit problems!

[duncan20903]

12:28 AM on 04/27/2011

"Medical marijuana is bad policy, bad for families, bad for society, and will cost the state more money for drug rehab" ---quoted from above.
------------------------------

Since 1996 when the California Compassionate Use Act was voted into law, the rate of Californians in "treatment" has fallen by almost 10%. The number in treatment for opioid addiction fell more than 47% between 1996 and 2009. That's even more impressive after accounting for the population increasing almost 16% in the study period.

For perspective let's look at New York. The number of people in treatment" for anything rose 36% in the same time period. The number of New Yorkers in "treatment" for opioid addiction rose by a whopping 111+%. They've got double the number of California's number of opioid addicts yet just a little more than half the number of residents.

California is actually leading the country in dealing with its addiction problem by any reasonable metric. I'm not saying that medicinal cannabis is the cause of their declines but it sure didn't stop it from happening either.

I got my numbers from:
http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/ca96.htm

If you change the ca96 in the url above to ny09 you'd get New York's 2009 numbers. 2009 is the most recently published set of statistics. It works for all the other States as well.

[gunthli]

07:42 PM on 04/27/2011

If I had medical marijuana, I could eliminate about 4 different kinds of opioids off my counter, which I would gladly do. I'm not addicted to them (I put them down for an experimental treatment last summer and didn't touch them for 3 weeks), but I do have a chronic pain condition (I've had two back surgeries) and have been in PT (physical terrorists) for 3 years now. I can't work, because I don't know when my back with "go out", I'm in constant pain (I can barely go grocery shopping and if I do, that's all I'll get done in one day. I need help putting the groceries in the car and my kids take them out; my husband puts them away) and I'll need to go to the hospital (been there twice since Christmas) where they load me up with muscle relaxants and pain killers and send me home to sleep it off. Most days, I have to crawl up the stairs to get to my bedroom. And all these pain killers make me not able to sleep, so now I've added sleeping pills. My counter looks like a pharmacy. And the more you take of these opioids, the less effective they are. Marijuana is NOT addicting - I know; I smoked plenty when I was in high school. :) Opioids are addicting in the wrong people's hands. There is no reason to legalize it for medical use or recreational use.

[duncan20903]

11:19 PM on 04/26/2011

It's amazing how easy it is to talk people into supporting medicinal cannabis once you get them to actually look at the facts. If you don't believe me go ask the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. In 2008 a petition was filed to get them to consider recognizing cannabis as a valid medicine and reschedule it to schedule II. They refused to hear the petition out of hand. Subsequently they were sued, court ordered to hear the petition. After being dragged kicking and screaming to the table to consider the petition, they voted 6-0 to recommend that cannabis be recognized as medicine, and moved to schedule II.

If your one of those flat earthers that still think medicinal cannabis is just a scam, or a sham, or a backdoor to re-legalizing recreational cannabis you simply have to be unaware of the factual evidence that says that it is a valid, efficacious medicine.

Perhaps someday someone will sit down and explain to me the process for turning a medicine into a legal for recreational use. You know, I've always thought that I might like to try out some methamphetamine. Unfortunately I'm not a school child with an ADHD diagnosis so I don't qualify for a prescription for medical meth. But since allowing use on a doctor's orders will lead to over the counter recreational availability it shouldn't be too long now. After all Desoxyn has been available by prescription for decades.

[duncan20903]

11:26 PM on 04/26/2011

I meant to link to the medical meth advertising page:

http://www.rxlist.com/desoxyn-drug.htm

Take a look at that little girl in the medical meth ad, isn't she just as cute as a button? You can tell just by looking at her how happy she is to be a medical meth user.

Well perhaps you're one of those people who prefer little boys. If so just click the little girls picture and you'll get to see a cute as a button little boy, also beside himself with joy for being a medicinal meth user.

[StuffMoreStuff]

01:58 PM on 04/26/2011

"Income taxes were raised from three to five percent to protect vital human services from cuts during a massive budget crisis"

This is utter propaganda.

Cross supports, who cares?! It matter only what die Furher Madigan feels about the issue.

[Imlostinwyoming]

12:42 PM on 04/26/2011

The more people that are re-educated about Marijuana the more they will vote for legalization. The brain washing has been going on for too long.Help spread information. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vTRi-ptsC0

[lookintomyeye]

12:34 PM on 04/26/2011

“VICES are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property. In vices, the very essence of crime—that is, the design to injure the person or property of another—is wanting. It is a maxim of the law that there can be no crime without a criminal intent; that is, without the intent to invade the person or property of another. But no one ever practices a vice with any such criminal intent. He practices his vice for his own happiness solely, and not from any malice toward others.” ~Lysander Spooner

[loudneighbor]

03:54 PM on 04/26/2011

Great, except how does medicine qualify as a vice?

[lookintomyeye]

03:58 PM on 04/26/2011

it doesn't but for those who think pot smokers are criminals I offered this little quote.

[Lyr]

08:53 PM on 04/27/2011

Love Spooner! Civil War era American anarchist! I love the Constitution of no Authority!

[Blackwing]

10:21 AM on 04/26/2011

The Chicago Tribune is just another right wing, corporate owned bird cage liner. I will be sooooo happy when they go under.

[StuffMoreStuff]

02:00 PM on 04/26/2011

uh, dewd, it was on there EDITORIAL page.
If your still confused, look up "editorial". The opinion expressed may be ridiculous, but even ridiculous opinions must be printed...

[gunthli]

08:10 PM on 04/27/2011

Me too. I hate that right leaning rag.

[ChicagoKnowsBest]

10:13 AM on 04/26/2011

Great News Chicago, getting closer!!!!! LEGALIZE IT AND TAKE THE POWER AWAY FROM THE GANGS!!

[canapa420]

09:27 AM on 04/26/2011

Funny how they stuck an anti-medical marijuana ad in the middle of the article. "advertisement" is printed very lightly but it is designed to look like part of the article. This should not be allowed. Shame on you Huffington Post!!!

[phapnui]

11:48 AM on 04/26/2011

The ad I see is a man with out a shirt and a woman spreading her legs for a fashion company...

[mavalos]

12:27 PM on 04/26/2011

Advertisements are what gave us free tv. To be exact, it was the Whiskey industry offering to pay for advertisements that allowed for free tv.

[Montana Biotech]

08:11 AM on 04/26/2011

Republicans supporting medical marijuana, has hell frozen over! It was snowing this morning in Bozeman, Montana! We are having our own battle with the Republican party here in Montana! They want to overhaul our MMJ laws!!

For all of those interested in some good science based marijuana info, watch Growing Green on Missoula's Community Access Television, Mcat.org channel 7 this Friday at 530pm, or locally on channel 7 Bresnan, for a chance to WIN a Grow Buddy™!

Grow Buddy™ is a THC, CBD CBC, CBN, CBG, etc testing kit a person could use at home to analyze their own medical marijuana for the comparative presence of cannabinoids!

Be the first to re-tweet my on air tweet to WIN, it is that easy. Follow Montana Biotech on Twitter, NO registration, NO signing up, just watch on Mcat.org Channel 7 LIVE STREAM at 530pm this Friday to WIN!

http://tinyurl.com/3nbz72a

[DL3]

07:32 AM on 04/26/2011

"Medical marijuana is bad policy, bad for families, bad for society, and will cost the state more money for drug rehab". It really makes me laugh that they are still throwing this excuse out. The only people I know that have gone to REHAB for marijuana are the ones forced by the state. Marijuana would be a perfect cash crop for Illinois. You would think that a state this corrupt and broke would be all over leagalizing it.

[ben616]

03:25 AM on 04/26/2011

Let us hope they revise the crazy "can't drive twelve hours after smoking" part of it.

[KevinOConnor]

01:06 AM on 04/26/2011

Dr. Quentin Young is my hero! Chicago should be proud to have such a dedicated man in his profession. He cares about health care, as all doctors should. He thinks its a right and not a privilege and he's not afraid to stick to his guns.

Medical cannabis then single-payer, Illinois. It's time.