EX-COP BACKS PROPOSAL TO OK MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

I'm a former police officer and stage-4 cancer survivor (colon, lymph,
and liver), and I fully support the medical cannabis proposal now
before the Illinois General Assembly.

When I was battling cancer, I used cannabis to help me through the
debilitating nausea that otherwise rendered me nonfunctional. It was a
godsend in its effectiveness. The decision to obtain and use medical
cannabis illegally weighed heavily on me and is a situation that no
patient who needs this medicine should ever have to face.

This legislation would permit very sick patients with certain diseases
to use cannabis without fearing arrest, and, at the same time,
maintain the proper safeguards and penalties for the unauthorized,
nonmedical use of cannabis. ID cards are provided for, there are
reasonable limits on possession, employers do not have to accommodate
use, driving under the influence is strictly prohibited and public use
is forbidden. In short, this bill does what it is supposed to do while
protecting everyone.

My doctors pulled me through this trying time, and I trusted their
judgment. They are the ones who are qualified to decide about what to
prescribe. Let's take these decisions out out of the hands of
politicians and law enforcement officials and give them that
opportunity.

Jim Ware,

Wheeling