MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM NEEDED

Cannabis has not one documented overdose fatality, yet is considered
dangerous and outlawed completely.

Despite evidence that cannabis can be medically beneficial for
numerous conditions, and is supported by the American College of
Physicians and most recently the student section of the American
Medical Association, the federal government insists on depriving this
natural medicine from those who seek to use it legally in states that
have passed medical cannabis laws.

It is truly tragic that our government wants to deprive sick people
of their medicine in its failed attempt to stay the course in the war on drugs.

Illinois has a law on the books to allow for medical cannabis but it
has never been implemented.

Attempts to pass a new bill that would protect these patients are met
with opposition whose arguments are unfounded.

Medical cannabis sends the wrong message to the children is the
rhetoric often encountered in Springfield, but in states that have
medical cannabis laws, teen use rates have dropped.

In the study, "Do medical cannabis laws encourage cannabis use?"
published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, researchers
found that usage among adults does not increase either after medical
cannabis laws are passed.

Illinois needs a medical cannabis program to protect these
individuals who use this medication from arrest and having to turn to
the black market for their relief.

Dan Linn

Executive Director

Illinois NORML

Chicago