MEDICAL MARIJUANA PILOT GETS OK FROM STATE SENATE

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate narrowly approved a bill Wednesday
that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to treat seriously
ill patients, though the proposal faces an uncertain future in the
House as lawmakers scramble to meet their end-of-month deadline.

The 30-28 Senate vote split largely along partisan lines. Supporters
said it marked the furthest the idea has gotten after several defeats.

Republican Sen. Dale Righter of Charleston argued the proposal was
lax and wouldn't require criminal background checks for people who
handle or grow marijuana. Sponsoring Sen. William Haine (D-Alton)
said there was enough oversight to prevent abuse.

"It is not intended to be a stealth legalization," said Haine, a
former prosecutor from Madison County, near St. Louis.

The program would last three years unless lawmakers renew it.
Patients would be issued registry identification cards by the
Illinois Department of Public Health. They would be limited to
possessing six cannabis plants during a 60-day period, of which no
more than three could be mature. Qualifying ailments include
glaucoma, cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) said his parents suffered from pain for
which pharmaceuticals offered no relief. "We can make this a
political issue, but this is about compassion," Raoul said. "This is
truly about compassion and about people who are suffering from
chronic disease and have no alternatives."

Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline) asserted that for some, marijuana
would be a cheaper and healthier way to treat serious disease.

"Do you find it at all interesting that people view drugs made by man
as better than drugs made by God?" Jacobs said during debate. "This
is something that someone can drop in their backyard and find relief
from, and there's some of us in this chamber that would prefer
Oxycontin, morphine; would prefer mommy's little helper, uppers,
downers, all-arounders."

Meanwhile, House lawmakers Wednesday were poised to vote on Gov. Pat
Quinn's plan to raise the income tax rate to pay down the budget
deficit, but a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan
(D-Chicago) said Quinn requested that the vote be put off.

An administration source said Quinn spent the last several days
meeting with individual lawmakers to find enough votes. Republicans
in the House and Senate said there's no support to raise taxes among
their members.