Or Will They Have the Courage to Legalize Medical Marijuana? Multiple sclerosis patient Julie Falco makes a compelling case that Illinois should legalize marijuana for medical uses. Three times a day, Falco eats a small marijuana brownie to relieve tingling, numbness, spasticity, bladder problems, insomnia and depression. Pot works so well she has tossed out her prescription drugs. "I'm in a better place physically, mentally and spiritually from taking this," she says. Falco, 42, recently testified for a bill that would legalize medical marijuana. A Senate vote could come as early as today. [continues 627 words]
Every New Year's Eve and July 4th, Bob Wold brews a tea containing a psychedelic drug from "magic mushrooms." Wold takes a small dose of the drug psilocybin -- just enough to make sounds more distinct and colors a bit brighter. "I get a couple giggles out of it," he said. "It's like having two or three beers." But Wold doesn't take "shrooms" for the four-hour high. Rather, he has found that psilocybin is the only drug that prevents one of the most painful conditions known to man, cluster headaches. [continues 562 words]
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan kicked off her re-election campaign Sunday with $1 million in the bank and no primary challengers. The North Side Democrat also is emerging from the shadow of her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan. It was the elder Madigan's clout that helped his relatively unknown daughter win 2002 primary and general election contests against more experienced opponents. Lisa Madigan, 39, might not need her dad so much this time around, because now she has a record upon which she can run. [continues 283 words]
Once or twice every day, Julie Falco breaks the law to relieve her multiple sclerosis symptoms. Eating illegal marijuana brownies, she says, allows her to stand up straighter and walk more easily. But Falco worries about getting busted, and she believes the stress can worsen her symptoms. So today she plans to testify in favor of a bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana in Illinois. The bill would allow a patient with a "debilitating medical condition" to legally possess pot. [continues 371 words]
Dr. Daniel Angres, a drug counselor and parent, is alarmed at how casual many parents have become about their children smoking pot. "Their attitude is, thank God it's not cocaine or Ecstasy," he said. "This is so frightening to me." Angres, director of a drug treatment program at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, has joined a government-sponsored campaign to wake up parents about the dangers of marijuana. On Thursday, Angres spoke about the campaign, launched by the White House drug czar, that includes ads, Web sites and partnerships with influential groups such as the National PTA and American Medical Association. [continues 245 words]
Angela Balls gave birth to five children while addicted to heroin, cocaine and other drugs. One child was stillborn. Another has severe behavior problems, which she blames on the drugs. Now, a controversial private agency is paying Balls to stop having babies. Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity (CRACK) is giving alcoholics and drug addicts $200 to be sterilized or take long-term birth control. Its founders reason that children of substance abusers are at higher risk for health or developmental problems and often are so neglected they wind up in foster care. [continues 395 words]
In the war on drugs in Cook County, prevention and treatment take a back seat to catching, prosecuting and jailing drug offenders, a study has found. About 83 percent of the money local, state and federal agencies spend fighting drugs goes to police, prosecutors and prisons. Only 14 percent goes to treatment and 3 percent to prevention and awareness, according to the study released Thursday by Roosevelt University's Institute for Metropolitan Affairs. The percentage going toward criminal justice "is even higher than we thought," said Sharon Hermanns, a study author. "More needs to be done on prevention." [continues 188 words]
The use of Ritalin for preschoolers as much as tripled in the early 1990s, while use of Prozac and other anti-depressants doubled, a new study finds. Between 1 percent and 1.5 percent of children aged 2 to 4 took drugs for mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, according to a University of Maryland study of two Medicaid programs and one HMO. The study, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, raises disturbing questions about whether it's safe to prescribe psychotropic drugs to toddlers, researchers said. [continues 403 words]
