Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2013
Source: Pantagraph, The  (Bloomington, IL)
Copyright: 2013 Pantagraph Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.pantagraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/643
Author: L.E. Hlavach

ILLINOIS HOUSE TO AGAIN DEBATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois House sponsor of prior efforts to legalize 
medicinal use of marijuana has already renewed efforts in the new 
General Assembly.

A medical marijuana bill was the first House legislation introduced 
Wednesday in the new legislative session. It is sponsored by state 
Rep. Louis Lang, D-Skokie.

"We have a new General Assembly, new people, new thoughts, new views 
of these issues," Lang said Thursday. "We have national polls showing 
that the vast majority of Americans think people ought to have a 
product that their doctor thinks they ought to have."

Lang said medical marijuana "is less controversial now that 19 other 
states have approved it and two other states have said that marijuana 
is legal for all purposes."

"The idea that we would approve marijuana to help very sick people 
feel better should not be as controversial as it is," he said.

Under the proposed law, certain patients could obtain medical-grade 
marijuana from state-regulated dealers for use in their homes.

Lang has been trying for four years to get approval for a medical 
marijuana law in Illinois.

In the past, Republicans led the charge to kill the legislation.

Lang said the House nearly approved the proposal last session, and he 
seemed optimistic about the chance of passage this time.

"If you ask most members of the last General Assembly whether they 
thought we should pass it, they would say yes, even those who would 
not vote for it because they just felt they could not do it 
politically," he said.

Lang said polls show most Illinoisans strongly support a medical 
marijuana law, so legislators really cannot blame their own 
opposition on the voters.

"The failure to pass this in the past had nothing to do with 
constituents. It had nothing to do with what's in the bill," Lang 
said. "It only had to do with the political mind of individual 
legislators who don't have the courage to do what they know is the 
right thing to do."

Lang said the Illinois proposal borrowed some ideas from other 
states' laws, including those of Arizona, Michigan and Colorado. But 
Lang said his proposal included "a lot of our own language," making 
it "the strongest, most highly regulated and controlled proposal for 
medical marijuana ever drafted in the United States."

The bill filed this week, titled the "Compassionate Use of Medical 
Cannabis Pilot Program Act," only contains a single paragraph, 
describing the measure as "an act concerning alternative treatment 
for serious diseases causing chronic pain and debilitating conditions."

The filed bill serves as a procedural placeholder.

Lang said he will set out the full language in an amendment by at 
least early February.

He said the proposal he will offer this session will be similar to 
last year's but will reflect some improvements to make the measure 
easier to pass.

Lang did not fully outline the new proposal but said one change "will 
make the flow of the product easier for the patient," he said. "My 
goal is to make a product available to very sick people at a price 
they can afford and a location they can get to."

"The stronger we make the bill, the better we make the bill, the more 
we remind legislators that the strong sentiment of Illinoisans is in 
favor of passing such a bill, I think we can get it done," Lang said. 
"I certainly hope to."

The measure is House Bill 1
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom