National Organization To Reform Marijuana Laws

VOICING HIS BELIEFS

Ill. Director in 'Political Hot Potato'

SYCAMORE - The effort to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois is
often run from a dining room table in a rural Sycamore home.

Dan Linn is executive director of Illinois NORML - the National
Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws - and splits his time between a
family home in Sycamore and an apartment in Chicago, as well as a
fair amount of time in Springfield when lawmakers are in session.

Given the organization's constant presence in the Illinois
statehouse, many think the organization has a large Chicago office
with dozens of staff members. It's to the point where he annually
gets calls from students wanting to intern for the summer or
unsolicited resumes from those who want to work for him.

Instead, the chapter is run almost entirely on volunteers, he said,
although a grant helps compensate him for his time. It's often a
tough road, he said, as the group contacts lawmakers and works to
persuade them to legalize the herbal drug.

"The issue is a political hot potato where politicians feel they have
nothing to gain and everything to lose if drug laws are relaxed," he
said Tuesday.

This year, though, that army of volunteers is having some success.
For the first time, legislation legalizing medical marijuana was
approved earlier this year by the state Senate, although the House
has yet to take action on it. The proposed measure can be acted on until 2010.

Linn's push to see state laws related to medical marijuana is rooted
in a belief that people have a right to choose what they put into
their bodies. He's been arrested for that belief, after police found
marijuana in his possession that was intended for a friend. He got
six months of court supervision.

He spent about three years as a caregiver for a quadriplegic friend
who used marijuana to help control muscle spasms after the narcotics
that doctors prescribed to him were no longer helping. And he's met
dozens more who feel marijuana can help them manage the pain of
various illnesses, such as cancer.

Linn got his first taste of politics in 2002, when he helped his
older brother run an unsuccessful campaign for state representative
in Lake County. That experience illuminated to him how easy it is to
make contact with and discuss public policy issues with state and
local elected officials.

His epiphany to fight to legalize marijuana came during a year he
spent studying at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver,
Canada. He felt laws offered more freedom in Canada, and decided to
return home - he grew up in Fox Lake - to change drug laws in Illinois.

A good portion of his time is spent educating volunteers on how to
lobby, he said, noting that many are afraid to speak up in support of
legalizing marijuana.

"They think if they call (a lawmaker's) office, he's going to be on
the phone with the DEA and the FBI will be knocking down the door in
an hour," he said. "If you are not doing anything illegal, you are OK."

Voicing beliefs or concerns about laws is part of the civic process
that all Americans are entitled too, he said.

"Once you start living in this fear, you have really undermined some
of the basic principles our country was founded on," he added.

Linn doesn't envision a state where children would be able to legally
light up, or one where adults would be able to drive after consuming
it. Those who use it medicinally often don't want to smoke it either, he said.

"Especially for the elderly, the idea of putting some cannabis in
some brownies or cookies is more appealing than firing up a water
bong or lighting up a joint," he said.

But he does think marijuana should be legal in general, not just for
medical purposes, and regulated similarly to the way cigarettes and
alcohol are - by age and usage, for instance, similar to the way
cigarettes cannot be smoked in public places or sold to those under 18.

When asked about studies that have found marijuana is a gateway drug
to more serious narcotics, he said many of those studies have been
disprove, and noted the first drugs many people try are alcohol and
tobacco products.

"Look at the definition of drug, and it includes the alteration of
the mind or mood of an individual," he said. "We could say that about
sugar or Tylenol."

He also thinks farmers should be allowed to grow hemp, another plant
in the cannabis family that is also illegal, because it is
environmentally friendly. It can be used in paper, biodiesel and
cording, he said. It could be taxable, providing money to its growers
and the state. Hemp takes heavy metals out of the soil, he added,
helping to produce a more fertile growing environment.

"Some people say hemp will save the world," he said. "There are a lot
of problems in the world. I don't know if hemp will solve all of
them. But as we look at green policies, it should be considered."