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STATE SENATE APPROVES MARIJUANA PILOT PROGRAM

SPRINGFIELD -- A proposal to legalize limited medical use of marijuana for certain chronically ill patients now is headed to Illi-nois Gov.  Pat Quinn.

By a 35-21 vote, the Illinois Senate on Friday approved a four-year pilot project to legalize medicinal use of marijuana under a regulatory framework the sponsors called the "tightest, most controlled" in the nation.

Currently, 18 states and the District of Columbia permit some medical use of marijuana.

Under the Illinois measure, patients diagnosed with about 40 specific terminal illnesses or debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis, would be able to get a special ID card allowing them to buy medical marijuana from one of 60 state-licensed dispensaries, which in turn would buy the product from one of 22 state-licensed growers.

The measure narrowly passed in the Illinois House by a 61-57 vote in April.

Quinn previously has said he was "open-minded" about the proposal.  His office in an email Thursday said the governor "will re-view the bill if it reaches his desk."

The chief House sponsor, state Rep.  Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said Friday that "the governor's office was involved in drafting the regulatory process" outlined in the proposal.

Even if Quinn signs the measure, patients probably would have to wait at least 14 to 15 months before being approved to receive medical marijuana, Lang said.

First, the proposal would not take effect until Jan.  1, 2014.  Then, the state departments involved in licensing and regulating the growers and the dispensaries and in investigating patients and issuing cards would have 120 days to draft rules to administer the pilot project.

The proposed regulatory process is intentionally strict to avoid some of the problems other states faced, said Lang and state Sen.  William Haine, D-Alton, a former prosecutor and the bill's Senate sponsor.

State Sen.  Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, who voted for the proposal, called the Senate's 90-minute discussion a "good debate" with "valid points on both sides." Ultimately, Manar said, Haine "made a compelling case."

But most other local senators were unconvinced.

State Sen.  Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, noted opposition from two law enforcement groups, the Illinois Sheriffs' Association and the Illinois Association Chiefs of Police, who last week sent Quinn a letter expressing concerns about patients driving after they have smoked marijuana.

Haine said the proposal requires medical marijuana cardholders stopped by police when driving to submit to field sobriety tests and if the patients refuse or are driving under the influence, their marijuana card will be revoked

LaHood also said in his nine years as a state and federal prosecutor, he noticed that marijuana is "a gateway drug and leads to a harder drug."

He said that in some other states with medical marijuana laws, teenagers begin to see even recreational use of marijuana as "be-nign."

"My concern is that this is a debate that needs to occur in Washington, D.C.," said state Sen.  Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington.

Instead of lobbying Congress and the U.S.  Food and Drug Administration and using the federal drug approval process, the Illinois proponents have created "a new bureaucracy to handle one drug," Barickman said.  "What drug is next?"

"I wish we could provide some comfort to people with painful chronic illnesses, but I don't like the precedent that we're setting by setting up a separate regulatory structure for medical marijuana," state Sen.  Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said in a prepared statement.  "I think this is an issue that needs to be dealt with on the federal level instead of a piecemeal state-by-state approach."

"I'm extremely empathetic for those suffering," said state Sen.  Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.  "My own father died of cancer when I was in junior high, and my heart goes out to them."

"However, I believe this should be between a pharmacist and a physician -- like any other scheduled drug," Rose said in a pre-pared statement.

State Sen.  Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said he worried that Illinois risks sending the wrong message to teens -- that marijuana is not harmful.  "With what parents have to fight these days on behalf of their children, I'm not sure why we add this burden."

"I have a lot of reservations about whether this leads to more drug use," said state Sen.  David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville.  "In other states when they've gone to medical marijuana, it's sort of the first step before legalizing marijuana."

One local Democratic senator -- Gary Forby of Benton -- also was not convinced by Haine's arguments that the marijuana use would be contained by the safeguards.

"I'm for anything helping someone with disease," Forby said, "but I'm just scared that might start something and it might just move on."

LaHood, Barickman, Brady, Rose, Righter, Luechtefeld and Forby all voted against the measure.

State Sen.  Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, was not there for the vote.

The measure is House Bill 1.