SA Votes Down Group in Unscheduled Meeting

DeKALB | The Student Association Senate denied recognition to NIU Students for Sensible Drug Policy in an unscheduled meeting Sunday evening.

The senators voted 12-9 to deny the motion to recognize the organization as a social advocacy group.

NIU SSDP was allowed to hold a meeting Thursday in the Campus Life Building, but will now be unable to meet on campus.

The SA Senate originally voted on Oct. 24 to postpone SSDP's recognition until Nov. 7 pending its reclassification as a political organization. No vote was made Nov. 7 because SSDP did not go to the meeting.

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My husband and I were at the Capitol Nov. 30 during the medical cannabis debate for SB 1381. While normally I have a deep respect for our lawmakers, that day representatives of our state made us feel like criminals.

One representative, who happens to also be a pharmacist, said medical cannabis is addictive, while all along he himself has an addiction to pharmaceutical drugs and alcohol. He had no right to stand up and speak when he has a past of addiction and a DUI this year.

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I spent Tuesday morning at the Capitol listening to the debate on the medical marijuana bill. It saddened me to find that so many of the representatives are so woefully behind times in their knowledge concerning medical studies of cannabis.

One gentleman, who proclaimed himself a pharmacist, brought up arguments that have been refuted for years, including claiming that marijuana is an addictive drug. This gentleman, who didn't mention his own personal struggles with both prescription drugs and alcohol, was happy to pontificate on a subject he knows nothing about. He even brought up the canard about cannabis being a gateway drug.

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Dan Linn is correct in his letter of Nov. 28 on how legalized cannabis could ease the state debt in Illinois.

Illinois need only look at Denver and Colorado. Many cities and towns have been collecting tax revenue associated with medical cannabis (marijuana) sales in Colorado and newspapers have reported it.

On Nov. 23, the Denver Post reported, so far this year Denver collected over $2.2 million from dispensaries. Tax revenue in Colorado Springs, as reported in the Gazette, is expected to bring $600,000 this year and $1.2 million to city coffers in 2011, and could fund the ongoing costs of employing eight to 10 new firefighters or cops.

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In response to Mr. Williams' letter regarding history and our nation's debt, I would like to add that the "Noble Experiment" occurred from 1920-1933 and its repeal aided in overcoming the Great Depression. Similarly our current economic hardship could be partially alleviated if we were to end another failed prohibition and legalize cannabis consumption for adults.

Even though voters in California rejected an initiative to end cannabis prohibition, the economic problems facing California and Illinois are not that different and will likely continue. Both states have a large deficit and a booming prison population, mostly nonviolent drug offenders, which is increasing the burden on the taxpayers.

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SPRINGFIELD -- A plan to legalize medical marijuana went down in smoke Tuesday in the Illinois House.

The legislation would have let Illinois residents with certain ailments such as cancer, glaucoma or Alzheimer's disease get a prescription from a doctor to possess marijuana plants.

But opponents decried the plan as one that would encourage marijuana use by people who really didn't need it.

State Rep. Sandy Cole, a Grayslake Republican, said the proposal didn't focus enough on diseases.

"It doesn't talk about disease management," she said. "It talks about how much dope you can have."

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Three drug sweeps in three months? Within three months of this school year, Harry D. Jacobs High School has had too many drug sweeps, not to mention two of them were in the same week, and one the week previous.

While students and teachers had shelter-in-place lockdowns during class time with the blinds and doors closed, police and their search dogs swept through lockers, vehicles and personal belongings.

As students were taking this as a joke and messing around, they don't realize what danger can come in the school.

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SPRINGFIELD - Legislation that would have legalized marijuana for medical use in Illinois fell seven votes short of the 60 needed for passage Tuesday afternoon.

The legislation got 53 "yes" votes, among them from Reps. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, and Bill Black, R-Danville.

Fifty-nine lawmakers voted against the bill, among them Reps. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, and Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

The House debated the controversial measure for nearly 90 minutes, although no East Central Illinois lawmakers were among them.

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SPRINGFIELD -- Former talk show host Montel Williams is lobbying state lawmakers to approve legislation legalizing marijuana for medical use.

The television personality is scheduled to meet with members of the Illinois House in the hours leading up to a planned vote Tuesday on the issue, said state Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation.

Williams has multiple sclerosis and uses medical marijuana to help ease the effects of his condition.

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

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Seems Like They've Got Better Things to Do Than Bust 77-Year-Old

Enough with this nonsense. Does anybody really care if Willie Nelson fires up a joint on his tour bus?

Nelson was charged with marijuana possession last Friday after a U.S. Border Patrol officer at an immigration checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, found six ounces of pot aboard the country music legend's tour bus.

Keeping the borders safe.

Nelson posted $2,500 bond at Hudspeth County Jail and was released. I'm sure he'll never smoke pot again, having learned his lesson, cough-cough.

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As a Californian, I was interested by how many people were surprised that Proposition 19, "The Regulate, Control, & Tax Cannabis Act," failed to pass in the recent midterm election. Although the ballot initiative was widely considered the first legitimate opportunity for recreational marijuana use to be "legalized," Prop 19 was overwhelmingly defeated by an estimated more than half of a million votes.

Why didn't Prop. 19 pass? Perhaps the most conceivable explanation is because a substantial amount of marijuana proponents and users actually voted against the measure. Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties in northern California, which are referred to as the "Emerald Triangle" because their communities and economy revolve around the marijuana trade similar to how Iowa's do with corn, all voted against Prop. 19. A likely explanation is that the Emerald Triangle stands to lose its niche due to the risk that many places in California could then start producing marijuana, and that combined with the government regulatory taxes would diminish profit margins. It then makes sense to vote down a seemingly liberal measure with the liberal intention of keeping marijuana out of corporate and state control.

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The 2010 campaign battle cry was "It's the economy and jobs, stupid," and most hungry Illinois General Assembly candidates stuck obediently to the three point "pro-jobs, pro-economy and anti-tax" message.

For the most part, we didn't hear much about those uncomfortable topics such as gay marriage, marijuana legalization or the death penalty.

But this week, during the General Assembly's lame-duck session before new lawmakers are sworn in, Illinois social liberals apparently have determined it is the perfect time to focus on those same issues.

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Cannabis prohibition undermines Americans' freedoms and is a waste of taxpayers' money.

For more than 70 years the government has tried to rid the use of cannabis, and, just like alcohol prohibition, cannabis prohibition has failed miserably.

If cannabis were legal, it would have age and usage restrictions just like alcohol and tobacco. It also would be taxed like those substances. Since excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco help government budgets, perhaps taxing and regulating the cannabis market will be utilized soon to help in these hard economic times.

End cannabis prohibition, and tax and regulate adult use.

Dan Linn

Sycamore

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This past Tuesday was a big day for Americans nationwide. For many it was a decisive year in which the direction the country would be decided during a time of uncertainty. However, for many Californians it was something a lot more important than just the petty squabbles between Republicans and Democrats, it was all out war. On one side stood firm resistance against the legalization of marijuana and on the on the other stood (actually sat in circles singing Kumbaya) bong-toting hippies. After earlier predictions that Proposition 19, the bill to legal marijuana for recreational use, would be passed in California, it met an unexpected 54% opposed and 46% approval on Tuesday. While we don't recommend the use of any drug to people, there is definitely more to the story than just black and white.

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Cannabis prohibition is absurd given that alcohol is legal, and it is hard to understand why another failed prohibition has lasted so long.

The testimony by Harry Anslinger supporting the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is laced with racial slurs, prejudice remarks and simply false statements, but ever since cannabis and non-psychoactive hemp have been illegal.

This policy of criminalizing all who possess, use, or grow cannabis is costing a pretty penny in tax dollars and compromising our liberties.

A legal and regulated cannabis market would restore liberty to this country, provide another source of tax revenue, create jobs and end an unjust, racist policy that has done little other than stigmatize over 800,000 Americans who are arrested for cannabis every year.

Plus, adding controls and regulations for the distribution of the substance would make it more difficult for children to obtain.

America needs to put an end to another failed prohibition.

Dan Linn,

executive director,

Illinois NORML

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There is a war going on in Mexico that will affect us more than Americans know. The Mexican drug cartels have been a problem in Mexico for years, but now issues with them have reached their boiling point and it could possibly affect the United States.

It's been nearly four years since U.S.-supported Mexican president Felipe Calderon launched the attack on the drug cartels. Nearly 30,000 people have died in this war not many people know about. The deaths include soldiers, police, journalists and public officials.

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If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are as inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

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Thank you, Steve Chapman, for questioning our politicians for continuing Nixon's Drug War against Americans who prefer pot instead of other drugs ("Eliminating the costs, fiscal and otherwise, of the drug war," Oct. 10). However, you left out a major motivation why our politicians continue to order the arresting and jailing of Americans who prefer marijuana instead of alcohol or who prefer medical cannabis instead of patented pharmaceutical drugs with risky side effects.

Money. It comes down to millions of dollars given to our politicians by those who benefit the most; the liquor industry (who have a monopoly on the only legal recreational drug) and the pharmaceutical industry (who have a monopoly on the only legal pain relief and nausea relief drugs). Right now our state representatives have a chance to come clean by passing HB2514 to allow Illinois medical patients to substitute medical cannabis for risky pharmaceutical drugs.

It is time to demand that our elected officials start doing the right thing.

Michael Desjardins

Chicago

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Not only is the gateway theory discredited by government studies, cannabis (marijuana) prohibition causes increased hard drug addiction rates.

Responsible adults who use the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis often purchase it from people who also sell other substances including hard drugs, which increases the likelihood of hard drug addiction rates. Re-legalizing cannabis will eliminate that gateway effect. Another reason cannabis prohibition increases hard drug addiction rates is DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) telling lies, half-truths and propaganda regarding the plant. How many people heard DARE say cannabis was very bad and then realized it's not nearly as bad as claimed and think other substances must not be so bad either only to become addicted to honest hard drugs?

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Regarding Steve Chapman's Oct. 10 column, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana-related arrests in the United States; almost 90 percent of those were for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.

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