Medical Marijuana: Pending legislation in Illinois!!!

Legislators in the state of Illinois are considering passing laws that will allow the use of medical marijuana in that state. If passed, it is my belief that these bills will help to improve the quality of life for thousands of residents who have complex medical conditions.

Those against this bill fear that its passage will lead to increased illegal use of marijuana and believe that there are already prescription medications available for people who would be candidates for the use of medical marijuana.

Here is a link to House bill 2514: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2514&GAID=10&GA=96&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=44766&SessionID=76



Here is more information regarding Senate Bill 1381: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=76&GA=96&DocTypeId=SB&DocNum=1381&GAID=10&LegID=42617&SpecSess=&Session=

Marijauna has been reported to be effective in providing relief for numerous ailments, such as:

1. Anorexia (I'm talking about lack of appetite, not the eating disorder).
2. Neurogenic pain
3. Multiple Sclerosis
4. Nausea

To be fair, there are numerous prescription medications on the market today that provide relief for the above mentioned medical conditions. But here's the thing - not all medications work for every person. An example of this is that we all seem to take different medications to treat headaches - Tylenol and Aleve do NOTHING for me when I have a headache, but Ibuprofen works wonders. The use of marijuana will be no different - it will help some and do nothing for others.

Marijuana also has side effects and potential adverse effects. It has been proposed that smoking marijuana will make its users more likely to develop diseases such as lung cancer.

The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical marijuana examined the question whether the medical use of marijuana would lead to an increase of marijuana use in the general population and concluded that, "At this point there are no convincing data to support this concern. The existing data are consistent with the idea that this would not be a problem if the medical use of marijuana were as closely regulated as other medications with abuse potential." The report also noted that, "this question is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids."

If you live in Illinois and feel strongly that medical marijuana should be available to the citizens of Illinois, I urge you to contact your legislators TODAY.

If you do not know who your legislators are, here is a link to the Illinois "Legislator lookup" page: http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx?NavLink=1