POT PROPOSAL A PAINFUL ONE

As the state creeps nearer and nearer to full-blown financial crisis,
tensions run high at the Capitol, power struggles between the
Legislature and the governor abound, morale among Republican
lawmakers dips to an all-time low, and what do we find Democratic
Senate Majority Whip John Cullerton pushing once again? Legalizing
marijuana to relieve chronic pain. The controversial measure passed
the Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday and is on its way to
a floor vote.

Despite a similar measure being defeated last spring, the Chicago
senator has returned to promote legalizing marijuana once again, this
time with a soothing new title: "Alternative Treatment for Serious
Diseases Causing Chronic Pain and Debilitating Conditions Act."

The Washington-D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project has hired
professional lobbyists to push legalizing medical pot in Illinois,
Minnesota and New York. Testifying at Wednesday's hearing were two
Marijuana Policy Project lobbyists.

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Judy Valco, of Chicago, told the
committee she eats three marijuana-laced brownies each day to relieve
her chronic pain. Lindenhurst resident Lisa Lange Van Kamp, who also
testified from a wheelchair, said she finds no relief from her
osteoarthritis pain other than by ingesting pot on a regular basis.

Cullerton, who championed the statewide public smoking ban last year,
assured the committee Senate Bill 2865 was stricter than California's
medical marijuana bill. His specifies what conditions warrant
medicinal marijuana use and requires medical pot distributors to
register with the state and pay a $5,000 setup fee.

Cullerton's legislation would protect marijuana users' rights over
those of landlords, who would rather not have medical pot cultivated
in their apartment complexes. The Illinois law enforcement community
opposes Cullerton's bill because of the difficulty it presents to
monitor growing marijuana indoors.

Marijuana gardens, as they're called, attract illegal drug users and
dealers and make it impossible to appropriately protect neighborhoods
and medical pot-growers at the same time.

Despite the women's passionate testimony, marijuana is not a
victimless medication. It is an addictive drug. But lots of drugs are
addictive, one might argue. Why should medical marijuana be restricted?

"There is a direct correlation between perception of risk and use;
the less risk perceived, the greater the use is," an informational
sheet from Educating Voices Inc. says. "The message that marijuana is
a medicine, thereby safe, is misleading to kids."

Indeed, it's foolish 12- and 13-year-olds who are likely to try
marijuana for the first time.

There is no age restriction for marijuana use in Cullerton's
proposal. Use would depend on a doctor's recommendation and obtaining
a medical use card. Not only would the patient be given permission to
transport pot, so would a patient's assigned designate.

But Illinoisans shouldn't be conned with this phony setup. It is not
paranoia to declare Cullerton's proposal just the first step toward
full-blown legalization of illicit drugs in Illinois.

The good senator has a track record of progressive legislation. It's
his modus operandi.

Cullerton's statewide ban on public tobacco smoking last year hasn't
alleviated his concerns about cigarette smoking in Illinois public
places. On one hand, he promotes smoking cannabis, but on the other,
he's introduced two bills this spring that would further restrict
smoking tobacco.

One bill would allow a neighbor to sue another if the neighbor's
tobacco smoke "drifts" onto his property. So if you're sitting in
your back yard smoking a cigar twice within a seven-day period, your
neighbor can sue you for the nuisance you're causing.

Another Cullerton bill allows condominium associations to pass
no-smoking bans, thereby expanding the public smoking ban into private homes.

What's wrong with this picture? From a conservative perspective,
individual rights are paramount over collectivism. Individual rights
are based on the right to own property and enjoy it fully.

But as the old saying goes, "Your freedoms end where my nose begins."
Who would ever have thought that meant government would interfere to
protect others from offensive odors such as certain types of smoke?
That legendary nose of freedom balances the right to clean air with
your neighbor's right to enjoy a smoke.

But with marijuana, it's obviously different. Marijuana debilitates a
person's reaction time and judgment, just as alcohol does. Children
are killed by those intoxicated by hard liquor as well as by illegal drugs.

There's no question Cullerton's latest proposal raises a need for
more Food and Drug Administration investigation into so-called
alternative treatments for serious diseases. What he's pushing on us
now is causing chronic pain in the lower posterior.

I wonder if that would qualify for medical use?