ADVOCATES ON BOTH SIDES GEAR UP FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA BATTLE HERE

SPRINGFIELD - Legalization of medical marijuana in western states last year
has left suburban drug education advocates fearful that Illinois will become
a target for similar initiatives. The Illinois Drug Education Alliance,
based in Naperville, is launching a campaign beginning with a workshop for
its members in downstate Bloomington today to weigh strategies to block
attempts to bring medical marijuana to Illinois.

They plan more workshops statewide later this year. They also are working to
work to repeal a 1978 law that allows marijuana to be used for research in
Illinois.

IDEA is concerned because last year Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington had medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot - and all five
passed. It is now legal in all of those states to possess and grow marijuana
in varying amounts for medical purposes.

"We don't want to get caught," said Naperville resident Joyce Lohrentz,
president of IDEA. "So we are trying to set an agenda."

Americans for Medical Rights, which emerged as the foremost proponent of
medical marijuana, is making plans to begin campaigns in Illinois and other
Midwestern states.

The group says certain patients benefit from medical qualities in the drug,
such as alleviating pain and stimulating the appetites of cancer patients.

Opponents contend that is just an excuse to allow marijuana use.

But until a definite plan is introduced in the General Assembly, lawmakers
such as state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican from Des Plaines, want to
wait before making a judgment on the issue.

"I would have to keep an open mind and listen to the doctors and the
pharmacists and see what is being proposed," Mulligan said.

Forming a definite plan for bringing medical marijuana to Midwest states
such as Illinois is the ultimate goal of the Americans for Medical Rights,
said Dave Fratello, the group's communications director.

He said the California-based group hopes to get the federal government to
change its position on medical marijuana by passing referendums in as many
states as possible.

Fratello said passing a medical marijuana law in Illinois is difficult
because the General Assembly would have to approve a referendum before it
could reach the ballot or pro-medical marijuana groups would have to get
500,000 signatures.

But that does not mean that his organization has not ruled out Illinois.
They are looking to see if there is a feasible way to build support in the
General Assembly. No timetable for Illinois has been set.

The anti-drug alliance based in Naperville, though, is wary of the
consequences of laws allowing marijuana use.

Judy Kreamer, a past group president, said there are dangers of possible
abuse.

"People can get marijuana to treat athlete's foot," the Naperville resident
said. "All you need is for a doctor to write on a piece of paper that
marijuana will help your athlete's foot. Now, most people are not advocating
those extreme cases, but those cases do exist."

But perhaps more damaging, opponents say, is promoting the image of
marijuana as a medicine.

"When people see marijuana as a medicine, then (they think) it is not
harmful," Kreamer said. "After all, (they think) it is a medicine."

Paul Armentano, the director of publications for National Organization for
Reform of Marijuana Laws, said there is some danger in using marijuana, but
compared to other legal drugs, the risk is minimal.

"I don't want to argue that any drug is a harmless drug," Armentano said.
"But medical marijuana is not a risk to society as a whole."

Limited use of marijuana for medical studies has been legal in Illinois
since 1978.

The law allows researchers to possess, produce and deliver marijuana and
prohibits the state from punishing anyone authorized to conduct the
research.

No one has applied to the Illinois Department of Human Services to conduct
research on human subjects, but a few researchers have used the 1978 law to
do research with animals.