Pubdate: Mon, 22 Apr 2013
Source: Alton Telegraph, The (IL)
Copyright: 2013 The Telegraph
Contact:  http://www.thetelegraph.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1207

MEDICAL MARIJUANA THE RIGHT CHOICE

Illinois seems poised to join the growing trend of states legalizing 
marijuana for medical purposes.

Last week, the Illinois House approved House Bill 1, which would 
allow physicians to prescribe up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana to 
patients with specific medical conditions, including serious illnesses.

The vote came after nearly 250 Illinois physicians expressed support 
for the proposed measure, with three of them discussing their 
position at a news conference in Chicago. Those three doctors said 
the drug can be a safer and more effective treatment than narcotics 
for patients with diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease and HIV.

The doctors were joined by 47-year-old Julie Falco, who suffers from 
multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. She described how marijuana 
helped ease the pain and other symptoms that had been so debilitating 
that she had considered suicide. Falco said the narcotics that had 
been prescribed for her before only made her feel worse, and she 
urged lawmakers to give other patients the option to try marijuana as 
an alternative.

The bill's chief sponsor, state Sen. William Haine, D-Alton, says the 
measure is about "reasonableness." He says there's no reason why the 
state should prosecute people who use marijuana for pain relief.

The bill would create a medical marijuana pilot program. It would 
allow physicians who have an existing relationship with a patient to 
prescribe marijuana for certain conditions.

Patients would be limited to buying 2.5 ounces at a time from 
dispensaries licensed and regulated by the state. They would be 
prohibited from growing their own marijuana, and both patients and 
caregivers would have to undergo background checks.

Gov. Pat Quinn said his staff members have been involved in drafting 
the bill but that he hasn't made a final decision on whether he would sign it.

Haine says he hopes the bill will come up for a vote in the Senate 
before it recesses at the end of May. The Senate approved a bill 
authorizing medical marijuana in 2009, but it failed in the House.

Opponents have said they worry people who don't need the drug will 
find a way to obtain it, and that the legislation would open the door 
to further legalization of marijuana, as has occurred in states such 
as Colorado.

But Dan Riffle, deputy director of government operations for the 
Marijuana Policy Project, points out the legislation is more 
restrictive than medical marijuana laws that exist in 18 other states.

We think that if doctors and their patients believe marijuana brings 
them more relief than narcotics and other drugs, it only makes sense 
to let seriously ill people use a natural substance to ease their 
pain. And concerns about abuse of marijuana seem somewhat silly when 
compared to the growing trend of people abusing narcotics-based 
painkillers. If doctors can prescribe drugs such as oxycodone, which 
frequently cause fatal overdoses in abusers, why not let them 
prescribe marijuana, which never has been known to take someone's life?
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