Pubdate: Sat, 8 Mar 2008
Source: SouthtownStar (Tinley Park, IL)
Copyright: 2008 Digital Chicago, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.southtownstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4719
Author: Fran Eaton
Note: Fran Eaton is a south suburban resident, a conservative 
activist in state and national politics and an online journalist.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

POT PROPOSAL A PAINFUL ONE

As the state creeps nearer and nearer to full-blown financial crisis, 
tensions run high at the Capitol, power struggles between the 
Legislature and the governor abound, morale among Republican 
lawmakers dips to an all-time low, and what do we find Democratic 
Senate Majority Whip John Cullerton pushing once again? Legalizing 
marijuana to relieve chronic pain. The controversial measure passed 
the Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday and is on its way to 
a floor vote.

Despite a similar measure being defeated last spring, the Chicago 
senator has returned to promote legalizing marijuana once again, this 
time with a soothing new title: "Alternative Treatment for Serious 
Diseases Causing Chronic Pain and Debilitating Conditions Act."

The Washington-D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project has hired 
professional lobbyists to push legalizing medical pot in Illinois, 
Minnesota and New York. Testifying at Wednesday's hearing were two 
Marijuana Policy Project lobbyists.

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Judy Valco, of Chicago, told the 
committee she eats three marijuana-laced brownies each day to relieve 
her chronic pain. Lindenhurst resident Lisa Lange Van Kamp, who also 
testified from a wheelchair, said she finds no relief from her 
osteoarthritis pain other than by ingesting pot on a regular basis.

Cullerton, who championed the statewide public smoking ban last year, 
assured the committee Senate Bill 2865 was stricter than California's 
medical marijuana bill. His specifies what conditions warrant 
medicinal marijuana use and requires medical pot distributors to 
register with the state and pay a $5,000 setup fee.

Cullerton's legislation would protect marijuana users' rights over 
those of landlords, who would rather not have medical pot cultivated 
in their apartment complexes. The Illinois law enforcement community 
opposes Cullerton's bill because of the difficulty it presents to 
monitor growing marijuana indoors.

Marijuana gardens, as they're called, attract illegal drug users and 
dealers and make it impossible to appropriately protect neighborhoods 
and medical pot-growers at the same time.

Despite the women's passionate testimony, marijuana is not a 
victimless medication. It is an addictive drug. But lots of drugs are 
addictive, one might argue. Why should medical marijuana be restricted?

"There is a direct correlation between perception of risk and use; 
the less risk perceived, the greater the use is," an informational 
sheet from Educating Voices Inc. says. "The message that marijuana is 
a medicine, thereby safe, is misleading to kids."

Indeed, it's foolish 12- and 13-year-olds who are likely to try 
marijuana for the first time.

There is no age restriction for marijuana use in Cullerton's 
proposal. Use would depend on a doctor's recommendation and obtaining 
a medical use card. Not only would the patient be given permission to 
transport pot, so would a patient's assigned designate.

But Illinoisans shouldn't be conned with this phony setup. It is not 
paranoia to declare Cullerton's proposal just the first step toward 
full-blown legalization of illicit drugs in Illinois.

The good senator has a track record of progressive legislation. It's 
his modus operandi.

Cullerton's statewide ban on public tobacco smoking last year hasn't 
alleviated his concerns about cigarette smoking in Illinois public 
places. On one hand, he promotes smoking cannabis, but on the other, 
he's introduced two bills this spring that would further restrict 
smoking tobacco.

One bill would allow a neighbor to sue another if the neighbor's 
tobacco smoke "drifts" onto his property. So if you're sitting in 
your back yard smoking a cigar twice within a seven-day period, your 
neighbor can sue you for the nuisance you're causing.

Another Cullerton bill allows condominium associations to pass 
no-smoking bans, thereby expanding the public smoking ban into private homes.

What's wrong with this picture? From a conservative perspective, 
individual rights are paramount over collectivism. Individual rights 
are based on the right to own property and enjoy it fully.

But as the old saying goes, "Your freedoms end where my nose begins." 
Who would ever have thought that meant government would interfere to 
protect others from offensive odors such as certain types of smoke? 
That legendary nose of freedom balances the right to clean air with 
your neighbor's right to enjoy a smoke.

But with marijuana, it's obviously different. Marijuana debilitates a 
person's reaction time and judgment, just as alcohol does. Children 
are killed by those intoxicated by hard liquor as well as by illegal drugs.

There's no question Cullerton's latest proposal raises a need for 
more Food and Drug Administration investigation into so-called 
alternative treatments for serious diseases. What he's pushing on us 
now is causing chronic pain in the lower posterior.

I wonder if that would qualify for medical use?
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake