Pubdate: Thu, 28 May 2009
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2009 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Authors: Monique Garcia and Rick Pearson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PILOT GETS OK FROM STATE SENATE

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate narrowly approved a bill Wednesday 
that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to treat seriously 
ill patients, though the proposal faces an uncertain future in the 
House as lawmakers scramble to meet their end-of-month deadline.

The 30-28 Senate vote split largely along partisan lines. Supporters 
said it marked the furthest the idea has gotten after several defeats.

Republican Sen. Dale Righter of Charleston argued the proposal was 
lax and wouldn't require criminal background checks for people who 
handle or grow marijuana. Sponsoring Sen. William Haine (D-Alton) 
said there was enough oversight to prevent abuse.

"It is not intended to be a stealth legalization," said Haine, a 
former prosecutor from Madison County, near St. Louis.

The program would last three years unless lawmakers renew it. 
Patients would be issued registry identification cards by the 
Illinois Department of Public Health. They would be limited to 
possessing six cannabis plants during a 60-day period, of which no 
more than three could be mature. Qualifying ailments include 
glaucoma, cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) said his parents suffered from pain for 
which pharmaceuticals offered no relief. "We can make this a 
political issue, but this is about compassion," Raoul said. "This is 
truly about compassion and about people who are suffering from 
chronic disease and have no alternatives."

Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline) asserted that for some, marijuana 
would be a cheaper and healthier way to treat serious disease.

"Do you find it at all interesting that people view drugs made by man 
as better than drugs made by God?" Jacobs said during debate. "This 
is something that someone can drop in their backyard and find relief 
from, and there's some of us in this chamber that would prefer 
Oxycontin, morphine; would prefer mommy's little helper, uppers, 
downers, all-arounders."

Meanwhile, House lawmakers Wednesday were poised to vote on Gov. Pat 
Quinn's plan to raise the income tax rate to pay down the budget 
deficit, but a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan 
(D-Chicago) said Quinn requested that the vote be put off.

An administration source said Quinn spent the last several days 
meeting with individual lawmakers to find enough votes. Republicans 
in the House and Senate said there's no support to raise taxes among 
their members.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom