MEDICAL MARIJUANA ARGUMENT MAKES LITTLE HEADWAY IN ILLINOIS

In Southern Illinois, the medical marijuana debate is just getting
started.

Only a handful of local residents apparently even know the names of
Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) and Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), the
two Illinois state representatives who are strong supporters of
medical marijuana legislation. Even at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, where hundreds of students support the legalization of
the drug, groups that lobby for medical marijuana laws have been slow
to push the issue.

Michael Steelman, a 27-year-old Edwardsville resident and a member of
the National Organization for the Reform of Medical Marijuana Laws,
believes there is a bright future for medical marijuana. He also
believes that future might still be more than a decade away in Illinois.

"I don't think anyone would accuse this area of being too
progressive," Steelman said. "Most people won't even talk about the
issue around here. They are terrified of a plant."

The benefits of medical marijuana are well documented, according to
the Illinois Nurses Association, a group with more than 6,000 members.
The nurses have endorsed a number of efforts to get medical marijuana
legalized, pointing to patients who use the drug to cope with nausea
and chronic pain.

The Illinois Nurses Association supports therapeutic marijuana use for
patients who suffer from AIDS, cancer, and other debilitating
diseases. The nurses say that marijuana can help patients stay on
their medications, boost their appetite, and help to ease their pain.

There are now 11 states that have legalized medical marijuana, and
representatives from NORML believe that Illinois is lagging behind the
national trend.

NORML says officials from Southern Illinois are generally not
sympathetic to the issue. The organization ranks members of Congress
in their efforts to support the reform of marijuana laws. Rep. Jerry
Costello (D-Belleville), who represents the 12th district, received a
ranking of negative 3, the lowest possible. So did John Shimkus
(R-Collinsville), who represents the 19th district.

Up north, U.S. Reps. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) was given a rating of 11.
Janice Schakowsky (D-Park Ridge) took the highest possible rating of
16. Both legislators have spoken out in their support of medical marijuana.

At the state level, McKeon, a respected Democrat in the House of
Representatives, stood up in front of his colleagues last year to
present House Resolution 398. The bill would have created a commission
to study the benefits of legalizing medical marijuana. Instead, the
legislation never made it out of committee and therefore was never
discussed by the House.

In the state Senate, Cullerton found a similar fate for his Senate
Resolution 256, a bill that also sought to create a commission. The
legislation went to the Senate Rules Committee, where it stalled in
May of 2005. Again, the bill never came up for discussion in front of
a full Senate.

"You hear stuff like that, and it's extremely discouraging," Steelman
said. "Our representatives in Congress think it's too dangerous of an
issue to even touch. Medical marijuana is not dangerous."

Across the Mississippi River, NORML of St. Louis is putting its
lobbying efforts into full gear. The group holds monthly meetings,
launches letter-writing campaigns to representatives at the local,
state, and federal level, and puts on an annual parade to raise awareness.

The group even has a "Hempmobile" to spread the message of reform.
During the first Saturday of May, NORML sponsors the "Million
Marijuana March to the Arch." The event helps bring in new members and
sparks many lobbying efforts for the reform of marijuana laws.

Dave Kelewae, a recovering marijuana addict, believes that reform is
needed. He just doesn't know when that reform will arrive.

"Something needs to happen, because the sooner we start admitting that
marijuana is out there, the better off we are going to be," Kelewae
said. "We can't keep ignoring the issues of medical marijuana and the
reform of laws. We need to wake up."