IL..Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Senate Committee as New Poll Shows Over 2-1 Support

Published: February 15, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS -- The medical marijuana bill, S.B. 2568, passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee today by a 6-5 vote as a new poll showed greater than two-to-one support for the measure. Passage would make Illinois the 12th state to protect patients from arrest for use of medical marijuana with their doctors' recommendations.

"This is a major step forward," said Christopher Fichtner, M.D., former director of mental health for the Illinois Department of Human Services. "The evidence that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine for some very ill patients has been repeatedly verified by government commissions in the U.S., Canada, Britain and elsewhere. This is a sensible, well-crafted bill that deserves quick passage."

Fichtner, a medical consultant to IDEAL Reform, testified at the hearing along with multiple sclerosis patient Julie Falco of Chicago.

The new statewide poll of likely general election voters, conducted by Anzalone-Liszt Research, Inc., found 62 percent support for legislation "that would allow people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other serious illnesses to use and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes, as long as their physician approves." Only 28 percent were opposed, with 10 percent undecided. The poll, conducted by telephone Feb. 10-13, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent.

Full results of the poll are available at:http://www.mpp.org/2006_il_poll.html

"Since the passage of Rhode Island's medical marijuana law in January, we are seeing tremendous momentum," said Adam Horowitz, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "This new Illinois poll reflects what we are seeing nationwide, and legislators are learning how hugely popular medical marijuana legislation is."

The states that currently protect medical marijuana patients from arrest are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

With more than 19,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana—both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment.

Good stuff indeed!

Passage would make Illinois the 12th state to protect patients from arrest for use of medical marijuana with their doctors' recommendations.

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"Since the passage of Rhode Island's medical marijuana law in January, we are seeing tremendous momentum," said Adam Horowitz, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.

"This new Illinois poll reflects what we are seeing nationwide, and legislators are learning how hugely popular medical marijuana legislation is."

Click to expand...

I'm liking the sound of all this...a lot.

Houston, we do have lift off...
Tremendous momentum being gained in what is developing into a hugely popular compassionate movement.

Rob Kampia, the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project is predicting very positive things in our near future...
Quoting Rob:
"I expect that we -- meaning you, me, and others who care about the future of this country -- will succeed at changing federal law with respect to medical marijuana in about five years.

And we'll succeed at changing federal law to allow states to tax and regulate marijuana about five years after that."
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=22156

I'm starting to positively sense that this great reign of repression upon the citizenry under the guise of a "drug war" is finally going to be coming to a greatly accelerated end in this country. (and hopefullythe world)... IMB

I totally agree!!!! Best news I've read in a while!

THey sat on it for a year, and this just moves it out of committee, but movement is good. I can visit any state rep who needs convincing. In a nice way of course.
H

Excellent... First step Complete then

The opposing battle cry will be:
"Save the children."
Demonize the other side...Classic tactic, it's got a track record...it's worth a try they say to themselves..."those dopers" certainly wouldn't want to save the children. (sarcasm)
It's like somebody asking you for a donation "to prevent child abuse"...Oh no, I support the other side and advocate child abuse, (were evil little pot pricks, out to destroy the moral fabric of society (and the children), go ahead, just admit it and get it over with.. .)


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State & National Organizations Join In Opposition to Marijuana Bill
Misinformation by Marijuana Legalizers Clarified

For Immediate Release
Springfield, IL – February 17, 2005 -
The following organizations in Illinois join Educating Voices, INC. in keeping our children safe.
Together they stand in opposition to HB407, a bill that will send kids the message that marijuana is harmless:

• Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems (ILCAAAP)
• Illinois State Police
• Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police
• Illinois Sheriffs’ Association
• Illinois Elks
• Drug Watch International
• Concerned Women of America
• Women’s Christian Temperance Union
• Concerned Christian Americans
• Illinois Family Coalition Inc.
• Family PAC
• Illinois Drug Education Alliance
• National Family Partnership of Deerfield
• Heartland Coalition for Youth and Families
• Geneva Coalition for Youth
• Hearts of Hope
• Community Against Substance Abuse (CASA)

In order to clarify misinformation being disseminated by marijuana legalizers, the following National professional organizations, in fact, do not support legislation of this type:

• The American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Medical Association
• American Society of Addiction Medicine
• Elks
• Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)

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A note from Andrea Barthwell about the Illinois Marijuana Lectures:

Judy Kreamer and I first met when Illinois legislators were going to have a hearing in the spring of 2004 to look at the so-called “medical marijuana” issue.
We shared the podium at a press conference organized by concerned citizens in the state at which I presented the Bush Administration’s position against using ballot initiatives and other tactics to subvert the regulatory process of approval of medications.
This process has served American’s for over a 100 years and protects the public health and us from snake oil salesmen who would make unfounded claims to use the hopes of the sick and suffering for their own gain.

At the time of the press conference I offered to help Judy work with parents trying to protect children from the dangers of drug use in any way I could. Little did I know at the time my time to help would be sooner than I thought.

In July 2004 I left the Drug Czar’s office and returned to Illinois.
Soon after I heard from Judy who wanted to take me up on my offer to help with the situation in Illinois.
A group of us got together (see picture of one of those meetings) and began meeting as concerned citizens for the health of our community.
One of the first things we are addressing is the high rate of marijuana use among our teens and the environment that fosters, rather than prevents, use.

We called ourselves “concerned citizens” and set to work with a laptop and out convictions.
We have developed a strategic plan that we have started to implement.
We have already held a press conference (in October) to educate the media and the public about the harms and dangers of marijuana.
We know we need to address how parents and other prevention groups misunderstand marijuana.
To make sure we all have the same current information we decided to create a series of lectures throughout the state presenting the most recent scientific and demographic data on marijuana.
We also thought in order to move the strategic plan we needed others to look at it and decide where they could help.
We have organized the Illinois Marijuana Lectures by reaching out to one person in a community who brings 15-20 interested people to a two-hour lecture.
We intend to conduct at least 18 of these lectures before mid-year.
We want the people who are attending the lecture to commit to something and connect with others in the state through the Internet.

We are not seeking donations; we do not intend to create a new organization. We are reaching out to the Community Coalitions that exist in the state, and their prevention partners.

You can see from the schedule that we are making two sweeps of areas of the state. We have in mind to do a Springfield and south sweep next followed by a Springfield and east sweep. I am also scheduled to do one of these in Geneva and one with LEAD in the north suburbs. We'll put on other dates in the Chicago area as soon as possible.

Keep coming back to our web site for updates to the schedule, alerts and information.
We want you to work with people locally to do something to protect our children from dangerous drugs.
We know we have to start with marijuana.

Sincerely,

Andrea G. Barthwell, MD, FASAM
http://www.illinoismarijuanalectures.org/note.htm
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Safety First:
A Reality-Based Approach to Teens, Drugs, and Drug Education
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=17435&highlight=dare

L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=22140

THE WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21714

MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT MISSION STATEMENT
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=22156

"The Economics Of Drug Prohibition And Drug Legalization"
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=16944

Marijuana Decriminalization: Talking Points
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=22222

For Immediate Release
February 10, 2006

Prohibitionists Duck Debate at Conservative Conference

After Final Offer of Balanced Debate,
Drug Free America Foundation’s
Calvina Fay Declines for Second Time After Canceling Scheduled Appearance

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Calvina Fay, Executive Director of the Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. declined to participate in a panel discussion with Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Executive Director Rob Kampia at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday morning. Fay's refusal to publicly discuss the government's focus on marijuana follows her last-minute cancellation Monday of a separate 10-minute debate over the war on drugs. The cancellation sparked a Tuesday op-ed in The American Daily by Cliff Kincaid — which erroneously reported details of the cancellation — and a statement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) based on details contained in Kincaid's piece.

Kincaid reported that Fay cancelled her scheduled debate because it "had been stacked against her." However, during a Monday phone conversation with MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston, Fay's Director of Communications Lana Beck told Houston that Fay had cancelled because she did not want to engage in a back-and-forth debate, and would only accept under the condition that each side give five-minute speeches, without openings, rebuttals or closings for each speaker, as is the standard for CPAC "mini debates."


Nevertheless, Rep. Souder on Wednesday took to the House floor and compared MPP representatives to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, citing Kincaid's report and submitting it into the Congressional Record.
Souder's floor statement contained factual errors related to the details of the debate, and excoriated CPAC organizers for even allowing such a debate to occur.

On Thursday, Houston and a staffer for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) offered both Fay and Kincaid slots in a Friday panel discussion with MPP's Kampia and DPA's Ethan Nadelmann titled "War on Drugs: Misplaced Priority on Marijuana?" Fay had already been offered a slot on the panel, but declined. On Friday morning, the pair finally informed Houston that they refused to participate in the panel.

"Calvina doesn't want to be embarrassed, because she knows this is a debate she can't win," Houston said.
"Huge numbers of conservatives agree that the federal government's war on marijuana is a total waste of our tax dollars."

With more than 19,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana—both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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"These People" think were a bunch of stoned idiots...yet they are afraid to "debate the facts".
What are they afraid of?, the truth...
Perhaps they could have enlightened us, (doubtful) but we'll never know...they should jump at the chance to embarrass us with our obvious ignorance on the subject.
wussy's...(chicken clucking sound)

This is good news indeed....Theres always going to be some idiot whos trying to " protect the kids", but I don't believe this Bill was set up for kids to go out and get high legally. Why can't some of these do gooders see the difference? You can pop pills til the cows come home as long as you have a prescription tho, and some of that stuff is TERRIBLE for ya

hooray for the land of lincon! i've been watching for a breakthrough somewhere in the midwest.

the people who DESERVE to be demonized are the ones who want to keep people from legally getting the medication they need.

Lets us peruse their "educational materials"...

Lets us peruse their "educational materials"...

The Lecture
Even if you are unable to make it to the lecture, you can download or view the lecture slides in a number of ways.
http://www.illinoismarijuanalectures.org/materials.htm

Also @ this link

"The Media Kit"

Also available here is a supplementary media kit to the lectures.
The materials in the kit can be used "as is" or customized to include specific information about your community.
Download the entire kit as a ZIP file (223kb) or choose individual materials.

1. Introduction (Word, 34k)

2. Fact Sheet:
Marijuana Initiative (Word, 40k)

3. Fact Sheet:
Kids and Marijuana: The Facts (Word, 79k)

4. Resources:
Links and information about ordering marijuana resources (Word, 29k)

5. Outreach Ideas:
Suggestions for local outreach and activities (Word, 51k)

6. Feature Story:
Marijuana and Kids: Not a Harmless High (Word, 27k)

7. Feature Story:
Marijuana: How to Tell Your Kids to Say No, Even if You Didn't (Word, 25k)

8. Point-Counterpoint:
How to make the case against marijuana to kids
(Word, 26k)

9. Get the Right Angle:
A tool for youth-to-youth discussions about marijuana
(Word, 29k)

10. Marijuana Quiz: For adults (Word, 55k)

11. Marijuana Quiz: For youth (Word, 37k)

12. Talking Points:
Main messages about marijuana (Word, 28k)

13. Op-Ed:
A sample opinion editorial piece for your local paper (Word, 26k)

14. Letters to the Editor:
Two sample letters for your local paper (Word, 29k)

15. Radio PSA Scripts:
Sample scripts for distribution to your local stations
(Word, 15k)

16. Marijuana Presentation:
A power point presentation and talking points (Powerpoint, 195k)
17. Contents of Kit (Word, 33k)

From the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign

So where does this Bill go from here? IM Boggled , you seem to be up on this.....

Press Releases
Bruce Mirken,
MPP director of communications;
Originally published: February 7 2005
....................................................................................................
Rep. McKeon Challenges Medical Marijuana Opponent to Debate


Ex-White House Official’s “Marijuana Disinformation Tour"...

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS — State Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), sponsor of a medical marijuana bill in the Illinois legislature, today challenged former White House official Andrea Barthwell to debate the issue face-to-face.
The legislator charged Barthwell with spreading misinformation in her “Illinois Marijuana Lectures,” which come to Alton, Belleville and Mt. Vernon this week.

“Barthwell is spreading so many falsehoods that this begins to look like a ‘marijuana disinformation tour,’” McKeon said.
“She regularly claims that medical marijuana is a ‘hoax’ foisted upon us by some cabal of ‘legalizers’ who are exploiting patients.
As a person living with AIDS, who has spent a lot of time discussing this issue with doctors, nurses and fellow patients, I know that’s false, and I am personally insulted by this smear campaign.

I am proud to stand with the Illinois Nurses Association, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the dozens of other medical and public health organizations supporting legal protection for medical marijuana patients.

If Andrea Barthwell really believes what she’s saying, let’s debate.
I will meet her anywhere, anytime.”

McKeon and other supporters of the legislation noted Barthwell’s long history of making false statements.

For example, in a Feb. 17, 2004 Chicago Tribune column, she called marijuana so dangerous “that sensible physicians and researchers consider it unethical to expose individuals to the risks associated with smoking it.”
In fact, both the American Public Health Association and American Nurses Association have noted marijuana’s “wide margin of safety” in official position papers supporting medical access.

In the same column, Barthwell touted Marinol (the prescription pill containing THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive component), claiming, “the only property that Marinol lacks is the capacity to create a ‘high.’”
In reality, the FDA-approved package insert for Marinol lists “a cannabinoid dose-related ‘high’” as the most common side effect.
Marinol also lacks the over 60 other unique compounds, called cannabinoids, that contribute to marijuana’s therapeutic benefits.


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Seeking Nurse willing to defend government’s position cannabis has no medical value
Patients Out of Time is seeking a Registered Nurse willing to defend the federal government’s position that cannabis (marijuana) has no medical value.

After a year of searching, Patients Out of Time has not found a single nurse who disagrees with the American Nurses Association (and thirteen other state nursing associations) position that cannabis is medicine and who can scientifically disprove that position to an audience of peers.
@
The Fourth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics
- April 6-8, 2006 in Santa Barbara, CA
Please contact:
http://www.medicalcannabis.com/index.html
Andrea ya busy then, love to have ya...

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parliamentary procedures?
Anybody?

What will the plant/weight limits be? I'm not in this state but it's close to where I am and the more states that are "freed" the greater the overall power for other states will be. My state had medical for about a day then something goofy happend, OHIO.

When is the next vote/ next step is getting this passed? Very exciting prospect for Illinoisians....

I do not remember much about the bill, it is no improvement on any other state, it may be modeled after Cali in form. The sponser is a chicago dem with aids and zero rep or power in the state. For folks as don;t know the lay of the land here, it is dems in chicago, reps and conservitive dems downstate. The reason we are a blue state is the farmers, who have an old dem traditional root that goes back to the grange. Word in the 50's was ain't no such thing as a good republicker, they screw the farmer every time. Wind still blows that way on the prairie. Unless there is a current for the law as a part of the cost savings going on here, which is possible, this is not eminent.
H

The reason we are blue is because of 8 million dems in the Chicago area....the rest of the state is red as a bull's vagina.

What I want to know is WHEN does this go to vote...what's happening with it? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Haps said:

I do not remember much about the bill, it is no improvement on any other state, it may be modeled after Cali in form.

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there's no way this bill is modeled after CA's prop 215. it is much more restrictive than our MMJ laws and is still being debated. it may become more restrictive yet. most congresspeople believe our laws are too liberal. and after losing the Raich case in the supreme court, and going through several federal raids, most states who are considering MMJ laws will not model their state laws after ours.

diggle asked

What I want to know is WHEN does this go to vote...what's happening with it? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Click to expand...

it still needs to pass the general assembly. if it passes the general assembly, it will become law.

Illinois Medical Cannabis Act:

http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillSta...8&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=23485&SessionID=50&GA=94

I have to say I am excited that my home state has made progress on this, I certainly hope it passes once it hits the general assembly. Illinois has never been a real progressive state, but this would be a positive step in that direction. Most states which have med laws are not as heavily populated either, save California......Good work mars....

Diggle, watch what you say about my prairie folks, you obviously don't know the farm folk. I consider chicago to include 75 sq miles which includes a lot of hard ass rep counties and cut into the chi dem numbers. This bill was supposed to be read the second time yesterday, after which it can be ammended and twisted around before a third reading and a vote. Now would be the time to know which senators are for or against - if MMPMAP or anybody has a list of friends/enemies, now is the time, for constituants to write letters, they will at least be counted. I found my reps info yesterday, and we need to spread the word to our peeps that we got a shot anyway.
H