MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL ADVANCING IN SENATE

An Illinois medical marijuana bill has taken the next step by passing
the state Senate Public Health committee and could be well on its way,
advocates say.

Members voted Wednesday 6-3 to allow seriously ill patients with
certain debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana as a medicine
without fear of arrest if their doctor has recommended it.

The vote clears the way for possible floor votes by the entire Senate
and House for the respective bills - a first for Illinois.

Jamie Clayton, 53, of Grafton is a longtime AIDS patient and medical
marijuana advocate who participated in a groundbreaking FDA-approved
study proving the drug's efficiency in treating pain caused by nerve
damage.

"It's going pretty quick. I'm excited about it," Clayton said about
the bill's progress. "We've got a long way to go, but it's made me
think a lot more positively that we may get it passed this year. A lot
of good people are at least taking notice that it's a reality that
cannabis is a good medicine."

Clayton said the bill's biggest roadblock continues to be
education.

"I think that we have to put things in context. It's not for everyone.
It is a drug. We're not trying to say it is for everybody.

"What is important is it gives patients options. It may not be the
magic bullet, (but) I would like to be able to use cannabis," he said.
"If it's out there and it's therapeutic then I want to be able to
include it in my therapy."

Clayton said that patients who would use it for medicinal purposes are
generally smart about taking their medicines and would not abuse it.

In addition to its benefits fighting nerve pain, Clayton said the
studies he's been involved with show medical marijuana can help
patients eliminate the use of heavier narcotics in their treatments,
such as hydrocodone and oxycontin.

"The study (of AIDS patients with peripheral neuropathy) showed that
50 percent of the people got relief," he said.

SB 1381, sponsored by three-term former state's attorney Sen. William
Haine, D-Alton, is the companion bill to HB 2514, sponsored by Rep.
Lou Lang, D-Skokie, which passed the House Health and Human Services
Committee, 4-3, on March 4.

"This is an important step for suffering Illinoisans who rely on
medical cannabis because they, in consultation with their doctors,
have determined it is the best treatment available to them," Haine
said in a press release. "I'm grateful to my colleagues in the public
health committee who listened to science and reason today and made the
sensible, compassionate decision to pass this bill."

Advocates hope state lawmakers will note that 63 percent of Michigan
voters approved a similar law last November and that a 2008 statewide
poll shows 68 percent support among Illinois voters for such a law.