Illinois Senate to Vote on Medical Cannabis!
Tell Your Senator to Support SB 2865!
NORML is pleased to announce that the Illinois Senate is now considering SB 2865, and will likely be voting on the measure in the near future. Please contact your state Senator and urge him or her to support this important legislation.
SB 2865 will help to ensure that medical marijuana patients in Illinois will no longer have to fear arrest or prosecution from state law enforcement. However, these bills will only receive serious consideration if your elected officials hear an unmistakable message of support from their constituents.
Currently, twelve states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - have enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from state prosecution. Patients in these twelve states enjoy legal protections to use medicinal marijuana under a doctor's supervision; seriously ill Illinois citizens deserve this same protection.
Please take two minutes of your time today to contact your state Senator and tell them to support medical marijuana. Because a Senate vote is now likely, it is especially important that he or she hears from you.
Thank you for your support of NORML and our efforts to enact medical marijuana reform in Illinois.
Take action: Copy & Paste this below message and send it to your friends and political leaders.
I’m writing today to urge your support for Senate Bill 2865, which seeks to enact statewide legal protections shielding state-authorized patients who use marijuana therapeutically from state criminal prosecution. At the same time, this proposal will not alter or interfere with existing state laws discouraging the non-medical, recreational use of marijuana.
The use of marijuana as medicine is a public health issue; it should not be part of the war on drugs. According to a national survey of U.S. physicians conducted for the American Society of Addiction Medicine, nearly half of all doctors with opinions on this issue support legalizing marijuana as a medicine. Moreover, some 80 state and national health care organizations, including the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, support immediate, legal patient access to medical cannabis.
Recently, the largest association of doctors of internal medicine and the second largest medical association in the country, the American College of Physicians, released a policy paper in support of medical cannabis, stating "The ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws."
Locally, Senate Bill 2865 has the public support of the 6,000-member Illinois Nurses Association, who affirm: "Cannabis is considered ... to be one of the least toxic substances known that delivers a therapeutic response. ... In the scientific dimension, there is almost a half-century of research that supports the safety and efficacy of cannabis for conditions such as reducing nausea and vomiting, stimulating appetite, controlling spasticity, decreasing the suffering from the experience of chronic pain, and controlling seizures." As a result, "It is the position of the Illinois Nurses Association to support legislation to remove criminal penalties including arrest and imprisonment for bona fide patients and prescribers of therapeutic cannabis."
To deny an effective medication to the sick and dying in order to "send a strong message to kids" against drug abuse is cruel and unconscionable, and improperly interferes with the relationship between a patient and his or her physician. State and federal laws already allow the medical use of many drugs, such as cocaine and morphine, which can be abused in a non-medical setting. Basic compassion and common sense demand that we allow the seriously ill to use whatever medication provides safe and effective relief. That is why 8 out of 10 American voters now say they support the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. Locally, 67 percent of Illinois citizens support allowing “people with cancer, MS, AIDS and other serious diseases to use and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes as long as their physician approves."
Presently, twelve states - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington - have enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from state prosecution. Patients in these twelve states enjoy legal protections to use medicinal marijuana under a doctor’s supervision. Illinois' seriously ill citizens deserve this same protection.
Once again, I urge you to support Senate Bill 2865.
Click here 2 see this bill in progress as it goes through the senate.
Bill 2865: Illinois senate soon to vote on legalized medical marijuana
Bill 2865: Illinois senate soon to vote on legalized medical marijuana
2008-11-11T14:18:00-06:00
adubtheengineer
420|News|
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
