TWO SPRINGFIELD COUNCILMEN HOST MEDICAL MARIJUANA FORUM TONIGHT

Councilmen taking issue to citizens after it doesn't make council
priority list.

After failing to gain traction with their fellows on City Council,
two Springfield officials hope to strike up a conversation about
medicinal marijuana with the public.

Councilmen Doug Burlison and Dan Chiles have scheduled a public
meeting tonight at the Library Center to talk about the topic, which
they failed to have added to the city's list of 2011 legislative priorities.

The 6:30 p.m. event is expected to run through about 9 p.m. and will
feature an airing of the film, "What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?"

The keynote speaker is Mark Pederson, director of Sensible Missouri,
a statewide patient advocacy group, and founder of the nationwide
Cannabis Patient Network.

A panel discussion with patients who use marijuana medicinally and a
question-and-answer session will follow the film.

"What we want to do is just open up a public discussion about this,"
Chiles said. "Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia have
allowed medical marijuana and it's time for Missouri to start talking
about this."

Chiles said the issue became important to him after he was diagnosed
with prostate cancer, while Burlison is a long-time supporter of
legalization efforts.

Chiles said that since bringing up the topic he's received "a storm
of phone calls and messages, letters and e-mails from people who
think it's time for us to begin this discussion."

Burlison said he hopes the meeting will help dispel some of the
"misconceptions and myths" surrounding the drug.

"I think folks will realize that marijuana is not just a funny Cheech
and Chong thing, but has the potential to be one of the greatest
medicines of this century," he said. "I hope to get some better
information out there and initiate the public discussion."

Pederson, who has led similar presentations in other Missouri cities,
said the goal is to "re-educate America about the value of cannabis"
and spotlight its benefits for patients "with legitimate illnesses."

"When we're talking about cannabis being used as medicine, what we're
really talking about is auto-immune disease," Pederson said. "You're
basically helping your own auto-immune system to fight disease."

Pederson said he has interviewed about 150 patients using medicinal
marijuana for the Cannabis Patient Network and expects several from
southern Missouri to attend tonight.

The feature-length film that will be shown at the meeting focuses on
the scientific support for medicinal marijuana use, he said.

"It's important to get the science out there -- the science is what
people aren't hearing about," he said. "These are actual scientists,
actual physicians talking, people who are specialists in their
field." Pederson said he is planning a follow-up meeting in
Springfield in January and hopes to hold similar meetings throughout
the state in 2011 with a goal of circulating a petition initiative in
2012 to take the issue to a statewide vote.

[sidebar]

Want to go?

What: Airing of the film "What if Cannabis Cured Cancer?" followed by
panel discussion and Q&A session about medicinal marijuana. When:
6:30 p.m. today. Where: Meeting rooms A and B at the Library Center,
4653 S. Campbell Ave.