SUPPORTERS OF LEGALIZED MEDICAL MARIJUANA GEAR UP FOR ANOTHER FIGHT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois lawmakers advanced a plan to legalize
marijuana for medicinal use further than ever this spring, but
proponents will have to work through the summer to drum up enough
support for it to clear its final hurdles.

The measure gained momentum over the last few weeks, passing the
state Senate and a House panel, but the full House did not act on it
before wrapping up its spring session Sunday.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the bill's sponsor, said he plans to
work hard over the summer to muster support from fellow House members.

"I'm hopeful it'll be ready for the (fall) session, but I'm not going
to give up on this," Lang said. "It's about health care. A lot of
people want to make it out to be about drugs, but it's about health care."

If the House approves the bill this fall or next year, Gov. Pat Quinn
still would have to sign it before the measure becomes law.

The three-year pilot program would allow patients suffering from
severe pain or nausea caused by a strict list of debilitating
conditions to use marijuana if prescribed by their physician.

With a prescription, patients would receive a medical marijuana
identification card from the state Department of Public Health,
allowing them to grow a 60-day supply at home -- three mature
marijuana plants -- or get a 60-day supply from a licensed marijuana
dispensary.

Opponents have maintained that excess marijuana beyond what a patient
needs could end up in the hands of children and teens and that
marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to harsher drug use.

Critics also say patients instead can use Marinol, an FDA-approved
prescription drug made from THC, the main ingredient in marijuana, to
ease their pain.

Marijuana proponents, however, say Marinol does not produce the same
relief as smoking marijuana, which contains a blend of more than 20
cannabinoids. Some people also experience unwanted side effects with
the medication.

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court shot down one oft-cited argument
made by opponents of medical marijuana: that state laws allowing
medicinal use of marijuana violate the drug's federal designation as
an illegal substance. The court refused to hear a case brought by two
California counties challenging the state's medical marijuana law,
thus upholding the law and a lower court's ruling that the federal
government cannot compel states to enforce federal law.

Proposals to authorize medicinal marijuana use have been floated in
the state Legislature several times before, but none has passed even
one legislative chamber.

Thirteen states have medical marijuana laws on the books and several
other states across the nation are considering similar proposals.

Lang's measure stands a chance of becoming law this year partly
thanks to efforts by state Sen. William Haine, D-Alton, to narrow the
bill in order to satisfy some of the opposition.

Haine, a former Madison County state's attorney, carried the measure
in the Senate where it passed 30-28 last week. Haine told his
colleagues that approving the legislation "is saying we have common
sense and compassion" for the seriously ill.