BACKERS STRESS COMPASSION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

When I talk to teenagers about marijuana, I don't rely on worn-out
scare tactics - "marijuana causes permanent mental impairment" ... "it
can lead to addiction to harder drugs."

No, not me. I just say what I know: "Smoking marijuana is an enormous
waste of time."

I came into adulthood during the disco-song, Cheech & Chong,
everybody-had-a-bong days, when smoking marijuana was pretty much
accepted. And I, unlike President Clinton, did inhale.

I'm not bragging - far from it. It was a huge waste of a few of my
potentially productive years. During our Mary J-inspired sessions, my
buddies and I solved the riddles of politics, poverty and peace.

Darned if I can remember any of it, though.

I encourage kids not use marijuana and other drugs as an escape. I
don't know if marijuana causes permanent brain damage or not, there's
so much contradictory information out there. But I do know that the
drug is a distraction from one's true potential.

I tell the truth as I know it.

When it comes to legalizing medicinal marijuana, as is the latest
debate in Illinois, however, it's difficult sifting through fear and
plain-spoken truths.

Pending legislation (SB650), introduced by state Sen. John Cullerton,
D- Chicago, states that legalizing the drug will bring comfort to
patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other
debilitating conditions.

The proposal left me a little confused. It's against federal law to
prescribe marijuana. Is this a serious bill, or is Cullerton pushing
some sort of symbolic legislation?

No, he told me, his bill will bring immediate help to sick patients.
"Similar laws have been enacted in 12 other states. Ninety-nine
percent of all drug laws are enforced by the states," he said. "It's
not that we'll be breaking federal law, we just won't be enforcing
it."

Opponents, like those affiliated with the Illinois Church Action on
Alcohol & Addiction Problems, call it a "scam" that will eventually
move the country closer to fully legalizing marijuana.

Anita Bedell, executive director of the organization, raised a
legitimate point
when we spoke Monday: "Illinois already has a problem. If kids think it's
medicine, they won't consider it as dangerous."

High school kids already have better access to marijuana than those
who need it for medical purposes, countered Charles Thomas, executive
director of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, a national
organization seeking "compassionate" alternatives to America's war on
drugs.

Cullerton's bill, Thomas told me, would protect patients prosecuted
for possessing marijuana. "It's morally wrong to punish people who
make an attempt to relieve their suffering."

Bedell said she would like to see more research into the medical
benefits of marijuana.

Last week, Harvard University released research that indicated that
the active ingredient in marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol) cuts tumor
growth in "common lung cancer in half" and "significantly reduces the
ability of the cancer to spread."

"Can you imagine if a doctor wanted to prescribe this treatment to a
cancer patient?" Cullerton asked. "He or she couldn't because it's
illegal."

Late last month, 50 religious leaders throughout Illinois signed a
"statement of principle," urging the state Senate to pass Cullerton's
bill. Charles Thomas of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative sent me
a list of religious leaders from across the nation who also
"officially" support legalizing medical marijuana. The group includes
Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, representatives of the Union for
Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Association, Episcopal Church
and the United Church of Christ.

I asked Cullerton why his controversial bill seems to have resonated
with so many religious leaders. "Because it's about compassion," he
said. "People are ill. This bill gets them the help they need without
making them criminals."

It's about helping sick people, not serving addictions. I liked
Cullerton's style - no fluff. Just the truth, as he knows it.