Illinois Legislature Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

[Tony Aroma]

This is a big step for mmj! With mmj legal in IL, that means about 40% of the US has access to mmj (121 million out of 314 million). If it passes in NY then we'll be at 45% (140 million). That means one more high-population state will mean mmj is legally available to a majority of US citizens. Unfortunately, the remaining high-population states are TX, FL, PA, and OH. I'd say only OH has even a remote chance in the near future.

With a final vote by the state Senate Friday, the Illinois legislature has finally approved a medical marijuana bill. It only took 10 years.

If Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) signs it into law, Illinois will become either the 19th or the 20th medical marijuana state, depending on whether similar legislation in New Hampshire gets approved first. Quinn has signaled that he approves of medical marijuana, but has made no definitive statement about whether he would sign or veto the bill, so Illinois activists and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) are calling on supporters to keep up the pressure. On Sunday, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon said she supported the bill.
If the bill is signed into law by the governor, Illinois will become the first state in the Midwest to approve medical marijuana through the legislative process. Michigan approved it in 2008, but that was via a voter initiative.

The bill, House Bill 1, would allow patients with qualifying medical conditions and a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana and purchase it through a network of up to 60 state-regulated dispensaries. The state will also allow up to 22 growers to supply the dispensaries. There are no provisions for patient or caregiver home cultivation.

"We applaud the Illinois legislature for taking action and adopting this widely supported and much-needed legislation," said Dan Riffle, MPP deputy director of government relations. "The final product is a comprehensive and tightly controlled system that will allow individuals with serious illnesses to safely and legally access medical marijuana with their doctors' supervision.

The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) and in the Senate by former state’s attorney Sen. William Haine (D-Alton). It designates the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and Department of Financial & Professional Regulation to regulate the cultivation, acquisition, and distribution of marijuana.

"We are hopeful that Gov. Quinn will join legislators and the vast majority of Illinois voters in supporting this proposal," Riffle said. "Marijuana has proven medical benefits, regulating it works, and there is broad public and legislative support for doing it. This is a no-brainer."

 

[cooper_shut_up]

i think we have really started to win the battle, but now the focus should be on keeping production available to patients.people such as myself on disability have a very hard time paying for meds

 

[ILL-IN-GROWER]

For our Illinois members, if ya don't feel like wading through all that type, here's what I took from it...


House Bill 1 IL MMJ


Points of interest

• Adequate supply is defined as 2.5 oz/14 day period. Allow doctor appeal if 2.5 oz is inadequate

• Cannabis monitoring system. Includes, but not limited to, testing and data collection of each cannabis plant and monitoring from seed to sale. Monitored by cultivation centers, and data available to the department of public health (DPH)

• Cultivation Center, registered with Department of Agriculture to provide only medical cannabis to cannabis dispensing organizations.

• Caregiver can assist only one patient with their medicine

• Enclosed, locked facilities include greenhouses

• Excludable offenses: felony violent crime, felony controlled substance, unless one can provide proof the offense was a “reasonable amount of cannabis intended for medical use”

• Cardholder is defined as “a qualifying patient or designated caregiver who has been issued and possesses a valid registry identification card by the DPH.”

• Qualifying Patient is “A person who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition”

• Cannabis dispensing organization, registered with the Dept of Financial and Professional Regulation, and includes cannabis, paraphernalia, and educational materials.

• Medical use “means the acquisition; administration’ delivery; possession ; transfer; transportation; or use of cannabis to treat” a qualifying patients medical condition.

• Useable cannabis, “seeds, leaves, buds and flowers of the plant, or any mixture thereof, but does not include the stalks, and roots of the plant.” Nor any ingredients added to prepare topicals, food, or drink.

• Verification system, important I quote this directly I believe… “…a web based system established and maintained by the DPH that is available to the Dept of Agriculture, the Dept of Financial and Professional Regulation, LAW ENFORCMENT PERSONEL, and registered medical cannabis dispensing organization agents on a 24-hour basis for the verification of registry identification cards, the tracking of delivery of medical cannabis to medical cannabis dispensing organizations, and the tracking of the date of sale, amount, and price of medical cannabis purchased by a registered qualifying patient.

• Written Certification is a document dated and signed by a physican stating, the patient will receive benefits from the medical use of cannabis, specifying the patient’s condition, and the patient is under that physician’s care for said condition.

• Even with a card and possession of an amount that does not exceed the limits “The Presumption may be rebutted by evidence that conduct related to cannabis was not for the purpose of treating or alleviating the qualifying patient’s debilitating medical condition.”

• Creates a Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Fund in the State Treasury used exclusively for the direct and indirect costs of the program. Excess funds “shall be used to fund crime prevention programs”

• “A registered qualifying patient is not subject to arrest, prosecution, or denial of any right or privilege, included but not limited to civil penalty or disciplinary action by an occupational or professional licensing board… the use of cannabis does not impar that licensed professional when he or she is engaged in the practice of the profession for which he or she is licensed.”

• “For the purpose of law enforcement, the Secretary of State shall make a notation on the person’s driving record stating the person is a registered qualifying patient…”

• Cards last one year, and as a patient, you must resubmit for a renewal 45 days prior to expiration, and for designated caregivers, 90 days prior to expiration.
• Allows up to 22 cultivation centers with one per IL State Police District. The Dept may not issue less than 22 if there are qualifying applicants and must be issued and renewed annually. (No producing your own medicine!!)

• Allows 60 dispensing organizations, and may not issue less if qualifying applicants.

• No denial of application within 30 days of submission, the identification card is deemed granted and a copy of the registry identification application shall be deemed a valid registry identification card.

• IMPORTANT: “Section 220. Repeal of Act. This Act is repealed 4 years after the effective date of this Act.”

• Skipped the middle section, discussing taxes.

• Refusal to submit to roadside tests results in revocation of registration.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

get a card, grow your own, if you get caught with weed you have a card, if' you get caught growing...well...don't get caught

 

[k-s-p]

It still has to be signed by the governor, right? Can it pass by default like Kentucky's industrial hemp bill did when the governor there declined to sign or veto the bill?

Also, the Ohio AG has certified a petition there to, among other things, allow for medical Cannabis.

We are reaching the tipping point, if not there already. Right on.

 

[farmdalefurr]

i want to know about how they are going to choose the "22 growers for the state"

will these be people hired by the state, like equal to state workers?

its scary to think about being in a state database, but i want to get right into the medical as soon as possible, be it care giver or if my physician will prescribe it

 

[ILL-IN-GROWER]

Yes the gov still needs to sign it, but he hasn't shown any clues that he wouldn't...

While I'm not happy about a lot of the restrictions, it does mean some sick people will be able to get meds that wouldn't have before... Which is undoubtedly a good thing. Granted they will probably have to pay a bit more, and score the 'medicine' (likely commercial crap if 22 cultivation centers supply all of IL)


After reading the whole bill, I'm not even sure what a caregiver does... No growing your own, so I guess they are allowed to visit the one of 60 dispensarys you have declared as your own source for medicine, and simply deliver it to the patient.


Let's do some math for fun, because I can't imagine anyone who came up with the bill crunched these numbers...

Population in IL... Roughly 12.875 million
Population over 18... Roughly 75.9%... Or 9.772 million people

Now of those 9.7 million, let's assume 1% use a gram a day as medicine... So take a hundred people, and between all of them, a gram will get smoked... Not unreasonable in my mind, and probably a bit low of an estimate when you think about all the colleges and urban centers in IL...

So 1% of 9.772 million... 97,720 grams/day
97,720g/day.... Into pounds... 218 pounds a day
22 cultivation centers, surely aren't all equal and won't be producing the same amount of medicine, as the larger populated areas will have higher demand, but for simplicity... 218 pounds a day/22 centers... Each center needs to produce 9.9 lbs/day to meet that demand

Assuming compassionate care and selling medicine at a rate of $25/eighth to the patients...

$25/8th... $200/oz... $3200/lb

Knowing that each cultivation center is looking at 9.9 lbs/day, and 3200/lb, we're talking about $30,000 a day, or $11.5 mil/year in revenue, per cultivation center... Compassion or a crutch for the kingpins and big business of chicago and IL?? You tell me....


I think it's a conservative estimate too

 

[stihgnobevoli]

you know how it is in Illa Noize.

 

[DJXXPLATINUM]

MAN ITS ILL I NOI...BORN THR..I MAYBE LOUDER NOW, MAYBE ILL I NOISE...DJ

 

[Sóley]

What would be the best route to go if one desperately wanted to get a job in the mmj field here in Ill or anywhere else ? Whether it be schooling or networking of any sort, what would best position me or someone into something like this ?

I know Ill. may not be the best place but I would like some direction, of any sort.

 

[Dilbert Do]

i want to know about how they are going to choose the "22 growers for the state"

Bribes. (Same way senators are chosen for vacant seats.)

 

[hamstring]

This is a pilot program so would there be a chance that the final bill 4 years from now would be open to changes???

and what is a "pilot program" ??

how does it differ from the way other states brought Medical Marijuana in??

If signed into law, the pilot program will officially take effect on January 1, 2014. Because the measure contains a sunset provision, it will expire in four year from this date unless lawmakers act to extend it.

 

[fabvariousk]

You would have to be a special kind of tarded to sign up with any Illinois med weed program.

Guys this is nothing more than list making for prosecution and seizure purposes. You do not understand how shady the dems and police are in Illinois. No state even comes close to the blatant corruption of these fuck-sticks.
We elected this piece o' shit president from the same murky waters.
Sorry to be a wet blanket but no bitching allowed when patients start getting reamed there.

 

[LayedBack]

You would have to be a special kind of tarded to sign up with any Illinois med weed program.

Guys this is nothing more than list making for prosecution and seizure purposes. You do not understand how shady the dems and police are in Illinois. No state even comes close to the blatant corruption of these fuck-sticks.
We elected this piece o' shit president from the same murky waters.
Sorry to be a wet blanket but no bitching allowed when patients start getting reamed there.

Can't even be happy about MMJ being passed in yet another state? I don't know about the Illinois police. Doubt they are really gonna give a fuck about small time mmjers. But either way another state getting passed is good for the whole country. Puts us one step closer to federal legalization and that's something to celebrate. But looks like the governor still has to sign off on it.

 

[ILL-IN-GROWER]

Just want to requote a few points... Re list making and such...

“…a web based system established and maintained by the DPH that is available to the Dept of Agriculture, the Dept of Financial and Professional Regulation, LAW ENFORCMENT PERSONEL, and registered medical cannabis dispensing organization agents on a 24-hour basis for the verification of registry identification cards, the tracking of delivery of medical cannabis to medical cannabis dispensing organizations, and the tracking of the date of sale, amount, and price of medical cannabis purchased by a registered qualifying patient."

And one more...

“For the purpose of law enforcement, the Secretary of State shall make a notation on the person’s driving record stating the person is a registered qualifying patient…”

 

[ILL-IN-GROWER]

hamstring, pilot program to the best of my knowledge just refers to this section of the bill.

“Section 220. Repeal of Act. This Act is repealed 4 years after the effective date of this Act.”

So unless additional legislation is passed either extending this bill or creating a new one, the program will cease to exist.

 

[LayedBack]

That actually sounds pretty lame, I don't like this pilot program BS at all.

 

[B.E.D]

this bill blows chunks.
sure,it was great in the beginning.way back when.
you could have 7 plants,more weight then now.pretty lenient with the dr's and the reason for mmj use.

now,no plants..5ozs a month.have to have a long term relationship with your doc.if your a convicted felon none for you.there is a specific list of ailments you must have..i think 60 of them.
ect.....i wonder where will they get the genetics from?mexican bag seed..?university of Mississippi?

i'll just keep doing my own thing..

 

[Cloud_Strife]

the bill seems to be structured in a way that will offer the most benefit to those in control, and the least to patients, whom this is all about.

 

[hamstring]

It does seem pretty strict. My wife qualifies under the listed conditions. She didn't ask for the disease and has been living with it for over 25years.

I don't want to come off altruistic because my interest is personal and financial.

I wounder if this will lead to any expansion over the years and if people who got in early maybe allowed to grow. Knowing the Land of Lincoln I am doubting it they want 100% of the profits going to the broke ass state. I mean the state of Chicago where all the money gets thrown at the money pit.

I guess the 10,000 ft view is a little more rosy. This will change the minds of many who see this as just another illegal drug. Hopefully a few years down the line it can lead to a more lenient bill.

Just to throw out a biased opinion; If they didn't want people to grow their own why have 20 odd people picked to grow it just ship it in from Cali. My point being the law/bill wasn't drafted to help sick people it was drafted so the state gets all the revenue. I don't feel bad for hoping they change it to a personal grow situation.

I am going to try and keep a close tab on this to see how all this goes down. I am very interested in who gets chosen to grow and how they are chosen.