MARIJUANA LAW A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

I would like to thank the Springfield City Council for passing the
ordinance to allow officers to issue a citation for low-level cannabis
offenses. Cannabis use is not the demonic substance that it has been
portrayed in the past and, in fact, it is a plant that can be very
helpful to many people suffering from a wide range of conditions. Many
people who use cannabis are responsible, motivated and respectable
people.

Cannabis could be a viable tax source and more local municipalities
are beginning to notice as demonstrated by the number of cities
issuing fines instead of wasting time arresting and prosecuting every
low-level cannabis offense. These fines are just the fringe of the
potential money the government could be making in excise taxes if
cannabis were legal.

Cannabis is a documented medicine, hypocritically outlawed and wrongly
classified by the federal government as a schedule 1 narcotic, while
at the same time patent No. 6,630,507 is held by the United States of
America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Cannabis prohibition has failed, but at least Springfield City Council
and the police department have taken a much-needed step in preventing
the stigmatization of low-level cannabis users.

Dan Linn Executive

director National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws

Illinois chapter