Illinois started off the new decade by embarking into the world of recreational marijuana, where people can buy the intoxicating plant legally and without a prescription. Across the Chicago area, thousands lined up - some before dawn - for a chance to buy marijuana legally for the first time. The day featured long lines, a few glitches - and lots of happy customers. "It's history, so it's worth the wait," Damien Smith of Maywood said as he left MedMen dispensary in Oak Park with a bag of cannabis products after waiting in line for about four hours. [continues 4958 words]
A landmark battle in the war on drugs ended Tuesday, and a new approach to address racial inequities began, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker acted to legalize marijuana in Illinois effective Jan. 1, 2020. Sponsors called the change "historic" as Pritzker signed into law a bill that will allow Illinois residents 21 and over to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrate and 500 milligrams of THC infused in edibles and other products. Out-of-state visitors may have up to half those amounts. [continues 1023 words]
Marking a historic moment in an expanding national movement, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation that makes recreational marijuana legal in Illinois. After debate in Springfield earlier this year - during which one lawmaker even cracked eggs into a frying pan to depict the "brain on drugs" - the bill allowing possession and sales to begin on Jan. 1 was approved by the House and Senate. Illinois became the 11th state to legalize cannabis and the first state in which a legislature approved commercial sales. Vermont lawmakers legalized possession, but not yet commercial sales. Approval in other states came via referendum. [continues 609 words]
In a case that could have far-reaching implications, parents of an elementary school student who has leukemia are suing a Schaumburg-based school district and the state of Illinois for the right for her to take medical marijuana at school. Plaintiffs identified only as J.S. and M.S., parents of A.S., filed suit Wednesday claiming that the state's ban on taking the drug at school is unconstitutional because it denies the right to due process and violates the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [continues 778 words]
Illinois Medical Marijuana Use Has Increased Under Strict Regulation As Business Expands In a warehouse in Joliet, hundreds of marijuana plants sway under high-intensity lights, taking in carbon dioxide-rich air, sucking up a constant feed of nutrients and bristling with buds. Like Olympic athletes, the plants are rigorously trained and intensively pampered. Tiny predator bugs patrol the surface of the vegetation, hunting down any pests. Workers prune stems and leaves to put all the plants' energy into buds that produce the drug's euphoric and medicinal effects. The process churns out 200 pounds of high-grade pot every month. [continues 991 words]
Terminal Illness Also Covered Under Bill for Rauner Advocates for medical marijuana hope Illinois' plan to expand its program will give the industry the boost it needs to sustain itself - but some doctors warn that, despite changes made to protect them, they still have legal and medical concerns about the product. After previously rejecting efforts to make medical marijuana available to more people, Gov. Bruce Rauner's office has indicated he will sign into law a bill to lengthen the pilot program by more than two years, to July 1, 2020. The legislation also adds two new qualifying conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illness. [continues 1162 words]
Clinical Trial Shows Reduced Seizures in Children, Possibly Increasing Chances of FDA Approval A marijuana extract significantly reduced seizures in severely epileptic children, according to a landmark study conducted in part at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Supporters said the results greatly improve the chances for the drug, called Epidiolex, to win eventual approval by federal regulators for prescription use to treat Dravet syndrome, a debilitating type of epilepsy that strikes in early childhood. The drug would be the first derived from the marijuana plant to win such approval. [continues 1054 words]
Petition Asks for More Illnesses on Approved List Medical marijuana advocates are mounting a petition drive and social media campaign to convince Gov. Bruce Rauner to greatly expand the program in Illinois - but the governor hasn't yet given any indication he would do so. The campaign is driven in part by industry officials who fear their businesses won't survive without more than the current 4,000 patients statewide. Joining them are patients with a variety of medical conditions, including chronic pain and common arthritis, who say they need medical marijuana to relieve their symptoms without the side effects of prescription drugs. [continues 842 words]
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. [continues 246 words]
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. [continues 1251 words]
Hank Kovach's experience mirrors the recent success stories of other children with drug-resistant epilepsy. Wracked by frequent, daily seizures that delayed his brain development, the 7-year-old Chicago boy was unable to speak, learn much or even sleep without waking up in tears after an hour or two. Conventional drugs didn't help much. But after he began using a marijuana extract last year, his parents said, they were astounded when Hank went six months without a seizure. He began uttering sounds, learning numbers and colors, and, for the first time, sleeping through the night. [continues 817 words]
State's Path Similar to Others That OK'd Recreational Use Recent victories at the state Capitol are giving marijuana advocates hope that their ultimate goal - to legalize pot in Illinois - may be closer to reality. With a medical pot program underway and lawmakers voting last month to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of the drug, Illinois is following a path that three other states have taken toward legalization. Alaska, Colorado and Oregon rolled out medical marijuana and loosened pot penalties before approving the drug for recreational use [continues 773 words]
Delays, Legal Challenges Send Patients to Streets A year and a half after Illinois lawmakers voted to legalize medical marijuana, Marla Levi is still waiting. Levi has multiple sclerosis, uses a wheelchair and said she ingests marijuana to help her manage the symptoms. If she wants to continue, she'll have to get it on the street because medical marijuana in Illinois isn't expected to be available for several more months. A series of snafus has delayed the rollout of the program. Now lawsuits challenging the licensing process are further complicating efforts, and a judge has granted a court order delaying the issuance of one cultivation license until the mess can be straightened out. [continues 874 words]
Number Below Initial Estimates; Backlog Exists for Businesses' Out-Of-State Checks The number of approved medical marijuana patients in Illinois has reached about 1,000, officials announced this week. While the number remains far below initial projections, it's a noticeable increase from 650 one month ago. "Some people may be waiting until the product is actually available," Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said. That earlier number was "terrifying" for medical marijuana business owners, said Mark Passerini, president of the Illinois Cannabis Industry Association, who had said it's not a sustainable business unless more patients sign up. [continues 195 words]
State Allowing Food, Liquid Infusions for Qualifying Children Children who live in Illinois will be allowed access to medical marijuana in the new year under rules announced by state officials Tuesday. Those younger than 18 will need permission from a parent or legal guardian, must get the drug through an adult caregiver and will be required to receive approval from their own treating physician and a second doctor. Children may obtain only marijuana-infused products, such as food or liquid drops, and will not be allowed to get raw pot for smoking, under Illinois Department of Public Health rules. [continues 307 words]
Rauner, Others Support a More Open Process for License Application Since they won the Super Bowl, members of the 1985 Chicago Bears have made second careers out of promoting apple-pie products like McDonald's, Coca-Cola and G.I. Joe. Now, they can add a more countercultural item to the menu: medical marijuana. Emery Moorehead, former tight end for that once-dominant franchise, is part of a business team hoping to sell cannabis under the new state law that legalizes it. Moorehead plans to direct community relations for a group of investors seeking to open a marijuana dispensary in his native Evanston - one of 369 businesses that have applied to run medical pot retail stores or growing warehouses in Illinois. [continues 1134 words]
Experts Predict Illinois Prices Could Be Among Most Expensive in U.S., Thanks to Restrictive Rules When Jim Champion goes to a medical marijuana dispensary in Illinois for the first time, his wife, Sandy, plans to take a picture to mark the victory, after years of fighting for an alternative treatment for his multiple sclerosis. "It'll be like going to the candy store for his birthday," she said. Champion, a military veteran from Somonauk in north-central Illinois who said he already takes marijuana to ease his symptoms, probably should plan on bringing plenty of cash. [continues 1055 words]
Julie Falco was active in lobbying Illinois to legalize medical marijuana, a drug she credits with "saving my life" since she started eating pot brownies to treat to multiple sclerosis 10 years ago. Yet now that the state has enacted a medicinal cannabis law and just this month began distributing applications for would-be patients, the Chicago woman is still deciding whether to go through that process or simply continue to use the drug outside of the new legal channel. She's particularly concerned about having to submit her fingerprints to the state - Illinois is the only state that requires that of medical marijuana applicants - along with documentation of her Social Security disability insurance, proof of age and residency and a recent photo. [continues 883 words]
Lawmakers are expected to finalize rules for medical marijuana in Illinois today, allowing people to start applying to be legal users as soon as September, officials said. Interested patients should start talking to their doctors now about qualifying for the drug, Illinois Department of Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer said. If the industry develops in Illinois as expected, patients likely would be able to buy their first ounces of legal "weed" by the spring of next year. The rules governing how medical marijuana can be grown, sold and used were proposed this spring by the state agencies involved in overseeing agriculture, financial and professional regulations, health and revenue. [continues 330 words]
Medical marijuana patients would be able to keep their guns, under rule changes proposed by the state. The Illinois Department of Public Health had proposed requiring gun owners to give up their firearms if they became medical marijuana patients. But after howls of protest from gun owners and marijuana users alike, regulators are dropping that prohibition, according to someone with knowledge of the rules who spoke on condition of anonymity. The change still wouldn't resolve an apparent discrepancy between state and federal law. [continues 105 words]
