Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 2009
Source: Rockford Register Star (IL)
Copyright: 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact: http://www.rrstar.com/contact
Website: http://www.rrstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/370
Authors: James Gierach and Jim Ware
Note: James Gierach is a former Cook County assistant state's 
attorney currently in private practice in Chicago. Jim Ware is a 
former captain with the Anchorage Police Department and Illinois 
resident. He also used medical marijuana to counter the side effects 
of chemotherapy during his treatment of stage-4 cancer in 2005.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SICK, DYING NEED SENSIBLE MARIJUANA LAW

If you've followed the debate regarding a bill to stop criminalizing 
seriously ill patients who rely on medical marijuana, you might 
believe Illinois' law enforcement community has lined up unanimously 
to oppose this sensible, compassionate legislation.

It's true that a few of our chiefs and police union leaders have 
appointed themselves spokespeople for the rapidly dwindling few who 
would still arrest suffering Illinoisans whose doctors recommend 
medical marijuana for relief.

But they do not speak for all who serve in law enforcement. We see 
laws requiring officers to harass and even arrest seriously ill 
people fighting for their very lives as cruel and wasteful not only 
to those suffering patients, but also to those of us who swore to 
protect and defend them.

We base our strong support for this medical marijuana legislation on 
our years of experience enforcing the law. We have listened carefully 
to our colleagues' arguments against allowing doctors and patients to 
make treatment decisions involving medical marijuana, and we believe 
their opposition is sincere and heartfelt.

But it is not rooted in science or real-world experience and should 
be rejected.

If we understand the substantive foundation of the objection to 
carving a narrow exception to existing marijuana laws to allow its 
use by patients when conventional treatments have failed, it lies in 
the fear that doing so would invite widespread abuse and crime.

But there is no evidence to support this fear. In fact, the 
experience of the 13 states that have laws similar to the one being 
considered in Illinois suggests the opposite is true.

Eleven of those states have had laws on the books long enough to 
collect reliable data on youth marijuana use trends since 
establishing a medical marijuana law. In every single one of those 
states, teen marijuana use has dropped.

In many states, including California -- whose medical marijuana law 
is nowhere near as tightly constructed as Illinois' -- those drops 
have been dramatic.

Then there's the experience of the law enforcement officials who have 
actually dealt with medical marijuana laws firsthand. In a study 
conducted by the General Accounting Office (Congress' investigational 
arm now called the Government Accountability Office) in 2002, 
officials from 37 law enforcement agencies in four medical marijuana 
states concluded that "medical marijuana laws have had little impact 
on their law enforcement activities." Specifically, "very few or no 
encounters involving medical marijuana registry cards or claims of a 
medical marijuana defense" were cited.

More fundamentally, we believe this legislation is primarily a matter 
for patients and medical professionals.

It is the choice of those in Illinois law enforcement whether they 
wish to accept the conclusions of countless esteemed medical 
organizations that recognize medical marijuana's value, including the 
American College of Physicians, the American Public Health 
Association, the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma & Leukemia 
Society, the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine and 
the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

While we share our colleagues' concern that any medical marijuana law 
must be tightly controlled to prevent abuses, it should be pointed 
out that the pending legislation does exactly that. Not only is 
Illinois' medical marijuana bill one of the most tightly written in 
history, but its sponsors have worked with opponents in the law 
enforcement community to address their specific concerns about the bill.

Illinois' sick and dying cannot wait any longer for a sensible, 
compassionate law that allows them access to doctor-recommended 
medical marijuana when all other options have failed. The discomfort 
some in law enforcement may feel about such a law does not approach 
that of seriously ill patients who struggle every day for relief and 
who often risk arrest to achieve it. As compassionate, concerned 
Illinoisans, we urge our elected leaders to act quickly on behalf of 
their most suffering constituents and pass this medical marijuana law now.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom