MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Hopefully, the Illinois State Senate will vote on and pass a bill
this week that will legalize medical marijana in the state of
Illinois. Following in the footsteps of 13 other states, the Illinois
legislature will vote on a tightly written bill that provides for a
three-year pilot program and a ban on driving cars for registered
cannabis users.

While critics suggest the bill's passage could throw the state down
the slippery slope of increased youth drug usage and even the
eventual legalization of all marijuana in all cases, frankly, the
chance that the downfall of Illinois' state structure will collapse
because of these lawmakers' decisions is minimal. Crime rates in
states that have passed the bill, including California (where a much
more loosely written bill passed almost a year ago), suggest that the
disastrous results presaged by anti-marijuana advocates are seriously unlikely.

Those who will potentially benefit from the bill are those patients
who suffer from chronic pain and nausea, ailments for which in many
cases cannabis is the only relief from constant agony. The most
likely patients are those suffering from patients with cancer,
HIV-AIDS, hepatitis C, glaucoma, Crohn's disease and Alzheimers,
according to a CBS 2 news report. If the bill passes, they will be
allowed to possess a maximum of seven marijuana plants.

History has proven that drug arrests don't go up in states that pass
medical marijuana laws. And legislative proponents of the bill have
publicly stated that their efforts are only aimed at medical issues,
and have nothing to do with wider legalization.

The moral issues of withholding pain medication in any form from
dying patients aside, other perscription medicines have much worse
side effects. The legislature, which has been delaying this vote for
months, should remember that the people they are trying to help might
not have enough time to wait.