LAWMAKER LIGHTS UP MEDICAL POT BILL AGAIN

Illinois state Sen. John Cullerton is making another run at
legislation that would make it easier for the seriously ill to
legally use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"This is about the patients. It's not about somebody abusing this law
to illegally obtain marijuana," said Cullerton, D-Chicago.

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved the measure that would allow
people to obtain a state-issued medical marijuana identification card
so they could legally possess and use marijuana.

Julie Falco, of Chicago, has suffered from debilitating Multiple
Sclerosis for more than 20 years. To ease the pain, she eats 1-inch
marijuana brownie cubes three times a day.

Falco told lawmakers that she has tried many legal, pharmaceutical
drugs for her disease, but marijuana is the only drug that seems to
help her symptoms without causing negative side effects. Still,
there's always the worry that she will get in trouble, she said.

Cullerton said the purpose of his bill is to decriminalize the use of
marijuana by those who really need it for legitimate medical reasons.
A similar bill has been introduced by a Republican lawmaker in the
Illinois House.

Under Cullerton's bill, a medical marijuana program would be
administered by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Qualifying
patients would receive an ID card after providing written
certification from their doctors.

The program would only be open to those with specified illnesses
including cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. Patients could
possess up to eight marijuana plants or designate an approved
"caregiver" to grow it for them.

Twelve other states have passed similar laws and Bruce Mirken,
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the laws work.

"They are not significantly abused and they help terribly suffering
people who can't really get relief except through the use of medical
marijuana or medical cannabis," he said.

But opponents like Judy Kreamer, president of the anti-drug group
Educating Voices, said problems with people trying to skirt the law
have cropped up in California, one of the first states to pass a
medical marijuana law.

Cullerton said his bill isn't as broadly written as California's and
should not cause the same concerns.

But Laimutis Nargelenas, deputy director of the Illinois Associations
of Chiefs of Police, said law enforcement groups have serious concerns.

"This law, from my standpoint, is nothing more than a ruse to try to
legalize marijuana in the state of Illinois," he said.

"If they want to do that then I think they need to step forward and
not hide behind sick people. Let the people of the state of Illinois
have a debate and discussion over whether marijuana is legal or
illegal in Illinois," Nargelenas said.

Illinois technically has had a medical marijuana law on the books
since the late 1970s but the state never followed up with the agency
administrative rules necessary to allow that law to be used.

Lawmakers have debated Cullerton's proposal before and while in
year's past he has been able to get it out of committee, he's been
short of having the votes needed to be approved by the Senate.

"We expect this is the type of bill which is a long battle," he said.
"There's been a number of issues that didn't pass the first time and
we keep coming back until people figure out and believe what we're saying."