I have been a practicing physician in the Chicagoland area for more than 30 years with a specialty in pain medicine. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention draws attention to the fact that Illinois must allow patients the opportunity to choose cannabis over highly addictive and sometimes deadly prescription drugs.

Opioids and narcotics remain the primary drugs for treating chronic pain despite their dangerous side effects. According to the CDC, 44 people die each day from prescription drug painkiller overdose, and health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012. This epidemic is disproportionately affecting women, with a more than 400 percent increase in painkiller overdose deaths since 1999.

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Medical cannabis has been available to Illinois patients for nearly two months and we have already witnessed countless success stories about how this natural remedy is helping people live an improved quality of life. In many cases, this improvement comes after all other treatment options have failed.

The medical cannabis industry has invested more than $250 million in Illinois while training a new workforce, employing more than 500 people and becoming an economic engine for communities still reeling from the recession. Local mayors who are happy to see residents back to work, restaurants full and a renewed interest in real-estate development support the program. Operating at about half-capacity, the industry has the potential to change the landscape of Illinois.

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All across America last weekend, panicked drug users rushed to their dealers to stock up on marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine for fear of running out. The arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the biggest drug cartel in Mexico, was sure to cause a sudden shortage of illegal substances in this country.

That's right. And I'm Queen Latifah. In reality, the capture of the narcotics kingpin is likely to have about as much impact on drug supplies as Martian solar storms do. You wouldn't expect long lines at the gas pump if the CEO of Exxon Mobil were suddenly unavailable because the company, its retailers and its suppliers would go on functioning.

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To the Editor:

I am glad that The Southern gave a "thumbs up" to the cannabis decriminalization bill being reintroduced in Springfield. How long until we end another failed prohibition completely? Keeping a plant illegal seems silly when there are plenty of other crimes that go unsolved every year. However it is easier for police to catch some college kids getting high than it is for them to solve a cold case murder or a rape.

The medical cannabis program has shown that there are investors and businesses willing to open up in parts of central and southern Illinois at a time when other businesses are shutting down or leaving the state. Colorado had to issue a tax refund to its citizens due to amount of taxes that were paid from the legal cannabis industry, both medical and recreational. Personally I would put Illinois farmers above Colorado farmers when it comes to growing cannabis, if only Illinois farmers had the chance. Those who were lucky enough to get a cultivation license to grow medical cannabis in Illinois needed large amounts financial capital and experience, something Illinois farmers just could not admit to when competing against the west coast gardeners. Illinois should legalize cannabis for all adults, not just those who are sick.

Dan Linn

Dan Linn is executive director, Illinois for the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws

[end]

Whether or not re-legalizing cannabis will help Illinois' economy - which it most certainly will - is the wrong reason to end cannabis prohibition ("Make Cannabis Legal To Revitalize Illinois Economy, Dec. 29, 2015").

End cannabis/marijuana prohibition because it's the right thing to do. Caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant is anti-Christian, vulgar and one of North America's worst policy failures in history.

Stan White,

Dillon, Colorado

[end]

The state of Illinois collected more than $5 million in fees from more than 350 applications for only 81 licenses to become a cultivator or distributor of medical cannabis.

Rural Illinois saw a surge of interest in creating new jobs and boosting some small-town economies. The reason for this interest is to grow and distribute a plant, but not the usual ones like corn, soy or wheat.

These small towns were approached by developers, investors and local entrepreneurs to try to get a shot at growing medical cannabis for the new pilot program in Illinois. However, because of the limited amount of licenses, some of these business ventures will never get the opportunity to build these multimillion dollar facilities and offer jobs to local residents.

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Big Business

'Who Better Would You Want to Oversee Your Compliance Than a Cop?'

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - With fewer than 4,000 approved patients, the nascent medical-marijuana business in Illinois is off to a slow start. Yet it hasn't kept away a cadre of cannabis entrepreneurs who once relied on guns, badges, tough drug laws and lengthy prison sentences to fight pot. STEVE NAGY / BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRAT Scott Abbott, a retired Illinois State Police colonel, speaks with Mark Lewis, left, and Jeff Greer in September at the new medical-marijuana dispensary being built in Collinsville, Ill.

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The article, "Few Q-C residents OK'd for medical marijuana," highlights how health care organizations are prohibiting physicians from participating in the medical cannabis program and draws attention to a disturbing trend putting politics before patients.

We are hearing stories from patients on how medical cannabis has changed their lives. Cannabis stimulates appetite and reduces nausea for cancer patients. It relieves rheumatoid arthritis pain and allows people to become active members of their families. It helps people live an improved quality of life and with edibles coming to market, even more will benefit from a variety of delivery methods to minimize and in many cases eliminate their symptoms.

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I'm writing about your story, "Chicago area men accused of cannabis possession after hotel search," Dec. 9. I wonder if your police department has solved all your robberies and rapes? If not, why are they wasting their time and resources making petty pot busts?

Why are the pot busts always in poor neighborhoods? Why don't they make pot busts in affluent neighborhoods like Woodside Drive or homes that back onto the Freeport Country Club fairways? Do the police think people who live in affluent neighborhoods don't use cannabis and buy their cannabis from their neighbors?

The real reason is that if the police started busting affluent people for pot, the war on drugs would soon be over. People in affluent neighborhoods have power and influence. People in poor neighborhoods don't.

- - Kirk Muse, Mesa, Arizona

[end]

CHICAGO - Patients bought $210,000 of medical marijuana in the first week it was legal in Illinois, marking what patients and industry officials said was a welcome, if overdue, start.

"By and large, things have gone well," said Joseph Wright, director of the Illinois medical marijuana pilot program.

More than 800 patients have bought 13,000 grams of cannabis since the state's first dispensaries opened Nov. 9. That's about half an ounce per customer, at an average price of $16 per gram, or about $450 per ounce.

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In the wake of more senseless murder on Chicago's streets, add my voice to the growing movement - which includes law enforcement officials - to legalize all drugs. The killings in Chicago, and in low-income areas all across the nation, are about drug sales and drug turf. Let's stop the huge profits to be had by dealing drugs - and stop the killing.

Lawrence Hartmann, Chicago

[end]

Canada was recently ranked the freest country in the world, but newly installed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn't about to let it rest on its maple leaves. He won the October national elections after proposing something no major American presidential nominee has ever dared to endorse: legalizing marijuana.

His Liberal Party argued that because of the current ban, "proceeds from the illegal drug trade support organized crime and greater threats to public safety, like human trafficking and hard drugs." Its platform called for legalizing, regulating and taxing cannabis.

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To the Editor:

My son, Ethan, has autism.

I am learning more on this parenting journey than I ever expected to learn.

Honestly, I really don't want to learn about the side effects of Risperdal or Zyprexa. I don't want to have a reason to know them. I don't want others to treat my sweet boy with any less dignity than he deserves.

The grip of autism is not selective. This child is only trying to make sense of his world and his emotional kaleidoscope. I want him to be able to cross the train tracks without being gripped by fear and to enjoy the Christmas lights with the rest of us. I want him to know that he is a treasure, every single day.

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I'm writing about the thoughtful column by Georgette Braun, "Belvidere woman seeks guidance from educators, " Oct. 11. It seems to me that all Illinois adults should have the freedom of choice to use cannabis a=C2=80" not just those who need it to treat disease.

Cannabis not only relieves pain and suffering, but it also prevents many diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. Cannabis is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory substances on the planet, and chronic inflammation is the root cause of most diseases of the human body.

I strongly urge the readers to read: a=C2=80=C2=9CThe Pot Book: A Complet e Guide to Cannabis: Its role in Medicine, Politics, Science and Culture." It is edited by Julie Holland, M.D.

Kirk Muse,

Mesa, Arizona

[end]

Small Percentage of Patients May Be at Risk, Experts Say

Depressed, withdrawn and coping with a death in the family, Joseph thought getting high would help him feel better.

Instead, he said, his marijuana smoking grew into a daily habit that made him paranoid and constantly question how others saw him. He went days without going home, showering or eating much besides potato chips.

"I always thought (marijuana) would bring down my anxiety, but it just made it that much worse," the Rockford-area man said.

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I'd like to respond to Ms. Fay's letter warning Illinois residents about medical cannabis becoming available in Illinois.

It is unfortunate that Calvina Fay chose to fear-monger about medical cannabis ["Medical marijuana causes host of problems," Counterpoint, Tuesday] when surely she is aware of the prescription pain pills that are leading to an epidemic of opioid addiction and fatalities. Cannabis has neither the same addictive properties as those opioids nor the potential for an overdose fatality and by any objective account is much safer than many prescription pills.

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As medical marijuana becomes a reality in Illinois, residents should brace themselves to the problems seen in other states. Already, as reported last month, the marijuana industry is ignoring bans on advertising and launching a million-dollar marketing campaign to boost sales.

Advertising highly potent edible products, such as cookies and candy, that are appealing to youth sends the wrong message and leads young people to believe marijuana is harmless. The medical marijuana cottage industry lacks consumer safety protocols and has led to an increase in marijuana-related emergency room visits in other states.

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The political dysfunction in Springfield that has made it impossible to do something as basic as pass a state budget threatens to eviscerate an important pilot program for medical marijuana-even as potential patients continue to get in line.

But this is one logjam that could be broken quickly, and it should be.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration and the Legislature have shown a good-faith willingness to actually talk to each other about this one - - rare itself these days. For the sake of severely ill people suffering from chronic pain, we urge the governor and Legislature to keep on talking and reach a deal. They might even learn a thing or two about how to bridge the chasm, by giving and getting, on other more difficult issues.

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Advocates, With Cash in Hand, Await the Backing of at Least One Candidate

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she has never smoked pot, not even as a bell-bottom-wearing undergraduate in the 1960s. Her husband's administration went nuclear in the war on drugs. During her 2008 campaign, she publicly opposed marijuana legalization.

But it's now seven years later, and the marijuana industry is a $2.7 billion business - the fastest-growing in the United States - and one that operates without any legal sanctions in four states, is decriminalized in16 others and is permitted for medical use in a few more.

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Veteran Actor in His Element for Thriller 'Sicario'

TORONTO (AP) - No other actor has covered all angles of the war on drugs - its tragedies, its violence, its farces - more than Benicio Del Toro.

It's a story that has followed the Puerto Ricoborn actor from the start: One of his first credits was the 1990 NBC miniseries "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story."

He's played a recovering drug addict ("21 Grams") and one not so recovering at all ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). He starred as Pablo Escobar in last year's "Escobar: Paradise Lost." And the critical pinnacle of his career came in his Oscar-winning performance as an honest Mexico police officer in Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic."

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