Congressman Mark Kirk, a Republican from Highland Park, recently introduced legislation to massively increase penalties for producers and sellers of higher-potency marijuana. It's hard to know what's worse, the congressman's scientific ignorance or his blatant hypocrisy.

Kirk said he thought the penalty for selling high-THC marijuana should be equivalent to that for cocaine. From a scientific perspective, that's laughable. Unlike cocaine, THC is essentially non-toxic. It is literally impossible to fatally overdose on even the highest-strength marijuana. And scientific experts remain unconvinced that higher-THC marijuana is any more dangerous.

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An ex-Chicago police officer was sentenced today to almost 11 years in for robbing drug dealers -- a case that prompted the judge to declare he's tired of the growing pace of wrongdoing by cops.

"In this city, it seems to me we are bombarded by stories and cases and prosecutions of police misconduct," said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who imposed the sentence on Richard Doroniuk.

"It's been accelerating . . . It's very discouraging."

Last week, Chicago cop Anthony Abbate was sentenced to 18 months probation by a Cook County judge for pummeling a much smaller female bartender while he was drunk, in a caught-on-video beating that drew national attention.

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In a letter that Ashley Hallstrom wrote to her father less than a month before she died, notes of frustration and depression rang out in her words.

The soon-to-be-23-year-old McHenry woman was heavily addicted to heroin. Until she penned that letter, she managed to stay clean and live on her own for seven months. She was keeping a job, paying her own rent, and buying her own food.

But one day, she fell back into her habit and was sent to jail for six weeks after an overdose.

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In Ben Erwin's June 5 column decrying the possibility of legalizing medical marijuana in Illinois, he describes marijuana as "vile and dangerous." He also warns of an "unimaginable cocktail" of drugs in the future.

In a 2007 drug handbook I found about 300 drugs listed under the letter A alone. Is there not already an "unimaginable cocktail" of drugs?

Erwin mentions Oxycontin with adverse reactions including dizziness, nausea and physical dependence and Clopra, with side effects including fever, depression, bowel disorders and nausea. Clopra is incompatible with 15 substances including sodium bicarbonate.

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The great judge Learned Hand once said, "The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." If so, the tobacco regulation bill recently passed by Congress indicates that the spirit of liberty is even scarcer than usual in the halls of government.

What motivates advocates of stricter tobacco regulation is the unassailable assurance that they are not only completely right but that their opponents are a) wrong and b) evil. This invigorating certitude makes it possible to justify almost anything that punishes cigarette companies, even if it does no actual good -- or does actual harm.One of the main purposes of the new law is to reduce the number of smokers in the name of improving "public health." This is a skillful use of language to confuse rather than enlighten.

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The concept of bringing a drug court to McHenry County has been researched for 10 years, and it appears it finally will become a reality by January.

McHenry County is the only collar county that has not gotten on board with a drug court program. The main holdup has been that judicial leaders were hoping they’d get state funding for a new judge, but that didn’t materialize,

Drug courts first were established in 1989 in Miami in the hopes of diverting nonviolent offenders into drug treatment programs and existing agencies as opposed to putting them in jail or prison cells. The idea behind them is to more aggressively focus on addiction with frequent court appearances and, usually, weekly drug testing.

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As I read public comments about the state's proposed cuts to human services, one thing is clear -- few grasp that by cutting these services it will cost them and the state more. Yes, more.

Since many appear unmoved about those who will lose critical social services that improve health and safety, I'd like to paint a different picture that might get their attention -- one that includes cold, hard cash.

Let's take drug abuse prevention and treatment, for instance, and look at what will happen if these programs are drastically cut. For every dollar spent on prevention programs, Illinois taxpayers save $10 in treatment and recovery costs. Every dollar spent on treatment yields more than $7 savings in decreased crime (38 percent less following treatment) and productivity alone. Those savings will be lost and additional costs incurred.

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It is too bad the writer of the recent letter, "Police are doing a good job going after drugs," doesn't realize that the amount of drugs that the police confiscate has very little impact into the overall illegal drug market. The 8,320 pounds of illegal drugs that were confiscated on I-55 last year are just a sliver of the entire illegal drug market in Illinois. History reveals that prohibition did not work with alcohol and the war on drugs is simply another prohibition.

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U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and police on Monday warned about a highly potent form of marijuana they say is showing up more in the suburbs.

Kirk also unveiled proposed legislation that would create tougher criminal penalties for anyone convicted of selling highly potent marijuana.

The drug variety in question, known on the street as Kush, is far more intoxicating than what was typically in circulation a decade ago, according to a news release from Kirk's office.

Named after a region in the Middle East, Kush has been around for years. Officials said it's become more plentiful here recently because local drug dealers have discovered it can be more profitable than other types of marijuana.

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On Election Day last year, Michigan voters made their state the 13th to allow seriously ill patients to use medical cannabis upon the recommendation of a physician. Now, 71 million people -- about 24 percent of Americans -- live in one of the 13 states that allow the doctor-advised, medical use of cannabis.

Suffering patients in Illinois, however, still face arrest for relieving their symptoms with an effective treatment option.

Such a measure enjoys massive support in Illinois. A 2008 poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research shows Illinois residents favor allowing seriously and terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes by a 68 percent to 27 percent margin.

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Without a $93 million state financial rescue, mental health care and drug treatment services will be lost for more than 45,000 Illinois residents by June 30, 2010.

Essentially, the Illinois mental health care and drug treatment system is in a slow motion bankruptcy because of the failure of the state of Illinois to adequately fund care.

A survey by the Community Behavioral Health Care Association of Illinois reveals that drug treatment and mental health care for 16,612 Illinois residents -- 9,625 children -- will be eliminated and care for another 29,812 Illinois residents -- 16,387 adults and 13, 425 children - -- will be reduced during the next 12 months.

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Two bills have been introduced in the Illinois Legislature intending to make legal the medicinal use of smoked marijuana. The companion bills, entitled the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, have been filed in both the Illinois House and Senate and are supported by a surprisingly large percentage of the caucuses in both chambers. Legislative members, however, have been misinformed by supporters regarding both the impact the bills will have upon Illinois and the long-term motivations of the bill's supporters. Lobbyists are making no attempt to conceal their long-range goal for Illinois: cannabis legalization.

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If you add the 75 pounds of marijuana confiscated at Lake Springfield and the six packages of cocaine found between Sherman and Springfield to the 8,320 pounds of illegal drugs troopers found on Interstate 55 last year, the men and women in uniform are doing a fantastic job!

I said it once and will say it again, my hat is off to them with another standing ovation. Thank you, troopers, for everything you do to keep our state free of illicit drugs and the people who traffic and use them.

Jeralee Josserand

Springfield

[end]

Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz inadvertently summed up the bankruptcy of medical marijuana opponents' arguments ("Sides split over medical marijuana bill," 5/31).

Hertz says, "I'm dead against it. What's next? Cocaine? Meth?" Could he be unaware that both cocaine and methamphetamine are legal medicines today?

That's right: Coke and meth are classed in Schedule II of the federal Controlled Substances Act, allowing medical use. Cocaine is used mainly in liquid form as a local anesthetic, while methamphetamine pills are available by prescription. And no one seriously believes that medical use has the slightest impact on abuse of either drug.

But right now, our laws treat coke and meth as less dangerous than marijuana. Given marijuana's well-documented medical efficacy and safety (fatal overdoses are literally impossible), that is simply insane.

Bruce Mirken

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington, D.C.

[end]

The collective sigh of relief that most Illinoisans exhaled when Rod Blagojevich was impeached has barely passed our lips and Gov. Quinn is already using thinly veiled threats to get what he wants. With Illinois in economic turmoil, all that our new governor can come up with is raising taxes or cutting huge amounts of funding for fighting alcohol and drug abuse and other vital social services.

Shouldn't the governor, senators and representatives at least discuss the possibility of 1) not spending millions of dollars on incarcerating drug abusers and 2) looking at legalizing and taxing marijuana sales?

Larry Adamski, Beverly

[end]

In response to your Tuesday editorial ("Policing cigarettes," Opinion, June 2):

Chicago remembers the downside of alcohol prohibition, so I am not surprised at your dismissal of prohibition as a method for tobacco regulation.

In the past, you've recommended the decriminalization of marijuana, but I recall no editorial recommending that it be legal and regulated. It should be.

Except for its illegality, marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol. Getting marijuana out of the drug war would allow honest research on its risks and its merits as medicine.

John Chase, Palm Harbor, Florida

[end]

WHOOPEE, the great state of Illinois is in the process of enacting new medical marijuana legislation. Soon our fine state will have the opportunity to get mind numbing smoke blown at them from two directions, medical marijuana and Roland Burris.

Dennis Rodenhofer

Swansea

[end]

Time ran out on a medical marijuana bill in the latest session of the state Legislature, but advocates are hopeful of passage when the measure does come to a final vote.

The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act (SB 1381) had passed the Senate 30-28 last week and soared through the House Human Services Committee. It was waiting for a final reading and a vote on the House floor over the weekend, but tax legislation took top priority.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois lawmakers advanced a plan to legalize marijuana for medicinal use further than ever this spring, but proponents will have to work through the summer to drum up enough support for it to clear its final hurdles.

The measure gained momentum over the last few weeks, passing the state Senate and a House panel, but the full House did not act on it before wrapping up its spring session Sunday.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the bill's sponsor, said he plans to work hard over the summer to muster support from fellow House members.

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Opinions Vary On Marijuana As Treatment Option

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series regarding pending legislation on the legalization of medical marijuana in Illinois.

Some medical professionals are at odds as to whether medical marijuana would offer a viable treatment option for patients with extreme pain and nausea.

Others say working with the drug would be more of a moral or comfort issue.

Doctors in oncology and infectious diseases have access to a drug called Marinol, or synthetic THC, to help cancer and AIDS patients with extreme pain and symptoms consistent with "wasting syndrome."

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