HOUSE EYES MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM

DANVILLE - In a 2009 speech from the floor of the Illinois Senate,
state Sen. William Haine told state senators he believed his proposed
Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act was a
"partnership with law enforcement."

Drug enforcement officials in Vermilion County, however, don't see it
that way.

"We think it's full of holes that make a dramatic problem for society
and huge, huge issues for the law enforcement side," said Steve Guess,
director of the Vermilion Metropolitan Enforcement Group.

He added the bill, if passed, would kill efforts to try to enforce
state laws regarding cannabis.

"It won't be effective at all," he said.

Haine's bill went on to pass the Senate by a vote of 30-28 in 2009.
Since that time, it has sat in the House, moving from the Rules
Committee to the Human Services Committee and then back to the Rules
Committee, where it remains.

California was the first state to OK the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes in 1996. Since then, 14 other states and the
District of Columbia have followed suit.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, is a co-sponsor of Haine's bill and
filed his own such measure in the House last year. To him, the
intricacies of the bills -- such as requiring people who request
cannabis to get a license and obtain a doctor's permission -- cover
many of the problems encountered by states such as California.

"We've made sure that Illinois doesn't become a crossroads for
marijuana trafficking," Lang said.

He also pointed out the bill proposed calls for the medical marijuana
to be allowed as part of a three-year pilot program. If the program is
deemed a failure, the legislature just won't reinstate it.

"I don't think there's a single downside," he said.

Helping the sick

The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act indicates
a person who is diagnosed with one of as many as 14 specific
debilitating diseases or conditions may be issued a registry
identification card by the Department of Public Health that permits
the person or the person's primary caregiver to legally receive cannabis.

During a 60-day period, a registered person can possess six cannabis
plants, no more than three of which can be mature cannabis plants.

The diseases range from cancer and HIV to glaucoma, Crohn's Disease
and Alzheimer's Disease.

Patients will be allowed to obtain the marijuana from a medical
cannabis organization that is registered with the state. The
organization is not allowed to obtain marijuana from outside Illinois
and must register with the state an address where the cannabis will be
cultivated.

The cannabis obtained by patients cannot be smoked near a school or
prison or in any public place and people using the medical marijuana
are not allowed to operate vehicles.

The only location requirements indicate a medical cannabis
organization cannot be within 500 feet of a private or public school.

The lack of location obligations for medical cannabis organizations is
among the problems Guess sees in the proposed act.

"It could be in the apartment next to you, it could be in the Village
Mall, it could be anywhere, which I think brings on problems," he said.

Guess acknowledged the rules regarding being near a private or public
school, but contends the distances are not that far.

"It's just not the message I'd like to see out there," he
said.

The alternatives

Guess disagrees with marijuana being touted as the only relief some
patients can find, saying there are other alternatives for patients
without the use of what is considered an illegal drug.

"My father died of cancer several years ago. If for one minute I would
have believed that cannabis was the one treatment that would have
helped him and helped his suffering with that disease, I'd be on the
other side of the fence," he said.

"But not for one minute do I believe that. There are drugs out there
that we use every day for those issues and concerns. There's no reason
to use medical marijuana," Guess added.

But Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois Cannabis Patients
Association, disagrees. He points out that Marinol, which utilizes a
synthetic form of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the substance in the
cannabis plant that produces its medicinal effects -- only contains
one of the compounds that make up the cannabis plant. There are as
many as 60 to 70 others not included in Marinol.

Linn said he has lost friends to leukemia in the last 10 years as
patients have fought to make medical marijuana legal in Illinois and
he is anxious to see it passed in the coming months. He doesn't see
the medical uses as necessary in every case of cancer, glaucoma or
Alzheimer's.

"It's just another option that a doctor should have and a patient
should have to choose from," he said. "Let the doctor and the patient
decide what works best for each situation."

He pointed out that prior to the inclusion of marijuana as an illegal
drug in the 1930s, cannabis was used extensively as medication.

Potential problems

Guess said he has seen medical marijuana firsthand -- just not in the
appropriate place. He said VMEG confiscated a box a few years ago that
contained as much as 30 pounds of intended medical marijuana from the
state of Washington. A MEG unit in the Quad Cities has seized as much
as 200 pounds of medical marijuana that had been shipped from California.

"No doubt was excess grown in that state, intended for medical
marijuana and obviously didn't get into those hands" he said.

"So what you're seeing is there's so much of this stuff being grown
out there, that anyone who doesn't believe that some of that makes it
into the drug market is foolish because it happens," Guess said,
predicting the same could happen in Illinois.

But Linn disputes that, saying recipients of medical marijuana will be
more likely than most to blow the whistle on someone who received
intended medical marijuana illegally.

"When this legislation does pass, patients will be very self-policing
and self-regulating," he said, noting that patients face the
possibility of the program being shut down if legislators feel the
marijuana has gotten out of control.

Patients are ready for Illinois to join other states in legalizing
medical marijuana, he said.

"They're desperately hoping this will happen," he said.

While Haine and Lang's bills are intended to help the sick, the
assistance does not come without a price tag. The Illinois Department
of Public Health filed information with Lang's bill, estimating a
fiscal impact of almost $400,000 to implement the act for a full year.
The information, noted with the synopsis of the bill on the General
Assembly Web site, indicated at the time that the state health
department would be unable to administer the provisions of the act
without additional personnel resources.