ILLINOIS IS GOING TO POT, LEGALLY AND QUICKLY

Thirteen years ago, California became the first state to legalize the
use of marijuana for "medical" purposes. Since that time, 13
additional states have legalized medical marijuana and 15 states,
including Illinois, are now considering legalization.

New Jersey voted last week to be the next state to legalize marijuana
for medical conditions. In Illinois, a similar bill sponsored by Sen.
Bill Haine has passed the Senate and has been sent to the House to be
considered in the current session.

The Obama administration recently announced a reversal of federal
policy and states that it will no longer arrest medical marijuana
users and suppliers as long as they conform to appropriate state laws
and regulations. However, the administration says that it will still
prosecute those who use marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity.

Some of the original supporters of medical marijuana were advocates
who claimed that the drug has widespread benefits for a broad range of
illnesses from AIDS to arthritis. Plus, proponents claim that it is a
very safe drug, especially when compared to the drugs it replaces such
as morphine, OxyContin, Valium, Prozac and other conventional
painkillers.

One side effect of legalization of pot has been the creation of a
major new sales tax revenue stream for the state and local
communities, especially Los Angeles and Oakland. Oakland reportedly
received sales tax revenues on $20 million in legal marijuana sales
last year. In Los Angeles, there are now more licensed marijuana sales
outlets than there are Starbucks and McDonalds restaurants combined!
Plus, 800 additional license applications are pending.

Reported gross statewide pot sales in California are now approaching
$2.5 billion per year, generating state sales taxes of about $220
million. This has other municipalities drooling at the thought of a
major new revenue source that doesn't require raising existing sales,
income or property taxes. The California law gives local government
great flexibility on how to regulate and tax pot sales and growing.

To qualify to purchase medical marijuana in California a person must
have a doctor's "recommendation." If a state does not tightly describe
what "medical use" is, anything can happen, as it did in California
where the original strict definition of medical use was modified to
include "any other illness for which marijuana provides relief." About
a quarter of California's marijuana's "recommendations" are for things
like anxiety, insomnia or chronic pain.

The widening acceptance of medical marijuana has implications far
beyond helping those suffering from medical problems. Most obvious is
the reopening of the battle between those who perceive that the
nation's hugely expensive, 40-year-old war on drugs is a failure and
want marijuana to be legalized, regulated and taxed like alcohol or
tobacco and those who fear that marijuana is "an entry drug" to
serious drug addiction. According to a survey by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, almost one-third of 12th-graders and
one-quarter of 10th-graders reported using marijuana in 2009.

Remember what happened after states discovered that big money could be
made by legalizing the numbers game and renaming it the State Lottery?
Lotteries spread across the country like wildfire. Well, stand back:
here comes legalized "medical" marijuana!