LEGAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA A VOTE FOR COMPASSION

If a member of your family, a close friend or even a neighbor whom you
did not know very well were in severe pain, wouldn't you want to do
what you could to help relieve their suffering? Of course you would -
as a matter of compassion and mercy.

Marijuana provides relief not available in any other way to sufferers
of chronic and severe pain from cancer, multiple sclerosis and other
illnesses. I have met those for whom this is true. In some cases, the
relief from pain has saved their lives - literally.

Some who oppose medical marijuana fear that it will lead young people
to increased use. But 14 states have already approved this measure,
including Washington, Vermont, Oregon, Maine, Colorado, California,
Rhode Island, Michigan and, most recently, New Jersey. In the 11
states where follow-up studies have been carried out - by state and
federal agencies - the teen use of marijuana has actually declined.

Will legalizing medical marijuana lead to out-of-control adult
recreation and profit? The oversights proposed upfront for Illinois
ensure that will not happen here. We have learned from the experience
of California and Colorado, which approved medical marijuana by ballot
initiative with no regulation written into their laws.

Patients will be required to register with the Illinois Department of
Public Health. A doctor must testify in writing to "debilitating
medical condition" and to "bona fide physician-patient relationship."
The quantity of cannabis per patient over two months is limited to 2
ounces derived from no more than three mature plants. Dispensaries
must have a license renewed annually. Personnel are subject to
background checks. Indeed, the regulations on these dispensaries are
in some ways stricter than those governing Illinois pharmacies.

Social change often takes time. But the American public already sees
the need to change policies governing the use of medical marijuana.
According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 81 percent of
Americans "support legalizing marijuana for medical use." The Academy
of HIV Medicine, the American Nurses Association and the American
Public Health Association all support allowing the medical use of marijuana.

Yes, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet classified marijuana
as an approved drug. But this is a "Catch-22" argument. By declaring
marijuana "illegal" the federal government has stymied the research
that could demonstrate its medicinal value. The FDA has already
approved legal painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Xanax that
are far more addictive than marijuana and can even cause death through
overdose.

Some feel that we should oppose its pain-relieving use because
marijuana is illegal. The answer, of course, is to do exactly what the
current legislative proposal in Illinois and the 14 other states have
already done. That is exactly what states have the opportunity to do
in our federal system of government.

The criminal element will gain no advantage here. Under the proposed
legislation, those desperately needing relief from pain will be able
to do so legally rather than going underground.

With marijuana, as with all drugs, the answer is education. We agree
with groups such as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America on the
critical importance for all of us, especially parents, to teach young
people the dangers of abusing drugs.

At the same time, let us not lose sight of the opportunity we have
right now to make medical marijuana available to relieve pain and
suffering. It is time to look intelligently at the legislation. Let's
give compassion and mercy a chance, not to mention common sense.

The Rev. Alexander E. Sharp is executive director of Chicago-based
Protestants for the Common Good, an Illinois faith-based advocacy
organization.