Reschedule Cannabis

Looks like our good friends in Illinois could be next to legalize medical marijuana?

Northwestern news says Don’t book that flight from Chicago to Amsterdam this winter just yet; medical marijuana may be on its way. Illinois, in a joint effort with the Obama administration, could very well be the next state to hash out a plan to legalize medicinal cannabis. Recent legislation and a new federal stance on the drug have made possible a whole new way of healing.

The United States Justice Department announced last week that they will stop prosecuting those who use marijuana for medicinal purposes, as long as the users comply with local laws. In a sharp departure from the Bush administration’s stance on marijuana, United States Attorney General Eric Holder said, “It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana.”

Although medical marijuana isn’t yet legalized in Illinois, legislation in the Illinois State Senate regarding the issue has passed. SB 1381, The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, passed through the upper house of the Illinois legislature last May. But it wasn’t easy.

According to the bill, a patient with a debilitating medical condition, as diagnosed by a physician, can be issued a registry identification card by the Department of Public Health which would allow them to have no more than seven dried cannabis plants and two ounces of dried usable cannabis. After a roll call vote that followed nearly an hour of debate in the Senate, it was reported that the gallery erupted in applause when the bill passed by a narrow 30-28-1 margin.

Off to a good start! But does it have support? You bet it does…

The Senate may have lit up with elation, but the Illinois House of Representatives hasn’t been as vocal. Representative Lou Lang, a Democrat from Skokie who is sponsoring the bill in the House, said in an interview that, “If every legislator who told me we should pass this bill actually voted for it, we’d pass it tomorrow […] but we have too many legislators who don’t have the courage of their convictions.” Essentially, many of the legislators who compose the heavily liberal-leaning House have privately stated that they want to legalize medicinal marijuana, but they are afraid to state the same in public.

Keep pushing the issue, you already have the support of the people! DO YOUR JOB and MAKE OUR MEDICINE LEGAL! Notice how its politicians procrastinating that often holds back progression???

In a state where 68 percent of people support legalizing medical marijuana and both the governor and his Democratic primary opponent are in favor of such a bill, it’s puzzling that the state legislature hasn’t been as supportive. Marijuana seems financially lucrative as well, as demonstrated by California, whose medical marijuana industry raked in $2 billion a year from sales and $100 million in taxes. Despite these reasons, though, support for legalization is far from uniform.

The people want medical marijuana, the Governor supports medical marijuana, should it surprise you that citizens are buying it too? LOL

It astounds me everytime I read articles like this that showcase the public DEMAND and SUPPORt for medical marijuana but it is always some cops or politician who is actually standing in the way. Did either of you (cops and careeer politicians) forget that you work for US? We TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, you don’t tell us what to do. You are to protect and SERVE us, remember?

So stop arresting us, and stop procrastinatiing on passing something the people already showed they want, and get the fine people of Illinois LEGAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOW!

If this does not prove to you that we need change in America, nothing will. Here is a woman trying to help her sick and dying aunt just to be able to eat a little bit of food so she doesn’t die hungry, and what does she get? Fired from her job as police dispatcher, this shows how desperate Americans are becoming to get safe access to medical marijuana.

Laura Llanes does not regret buying her aunt marijuana, even though it has cost her a job as police dispatcher.

She was stunned, nevertheless, when she was fired last week after admitting she bought the marijuana to help relieve her aunt’s suffering through breast cancer and chemotherapy.

Marijuana for medicinal purposes is legal with a prescription in 13 states; Illinois is not one of them.

This is happening all across the country and it needs to stop! Sick and dying people in states that do not have protection for medical marijuana users are being persecuted, and punished when all they are trying to do is use a natural, safe, and effective medicine to combat chemotherapy loss of appetite and nausea.

Llanes, 28, of Lake Villa remains adamant she did the right thing, saying her biggest mistake was telling a few co-workers what she had done: “They ratted me out.”

It seems her co-workers did not agree with her actions, which she did not do while on employers time, and told her boss. Should people be fired because co-workers rat them out for off-duty things? This is ridiculous, I smell a lawsuit!

Her aunt, who lives in Aurora, was “sick constantly, not eating, not having an appetite. She is diabetic. She has to eat. She was whittling away to nothing,” said Llanes.

“I thought I will get her some marijuana so it would get her to eat. It worked. She did get the munchies.”

Llanes has not been charged with a crime, but when confronted by her supervisor at CenCom E-9-11, she admitted she had bought marijuana and was promptly fired Wednesday.

“All that mattered was that I admitted to committing an illegal act,” she said.

It should not be illegal to purchase marijuana in America, especially for medical reasons. This is absurd and the employees who ratted her out should be ashamed, she is only trying to help her sick aunt. And now, she has declined to buy her more, and now this woman will suffer pain while the co-workers get a pat on the back for ratting out a compassionate family member.

I hope these people sleep well tonight knowing a woman will be laying in pain dying slow because of their actions.

We need to protect patients like this and shield them from persecution like this. We need change in America regarding marijuana laws, and now is the time!!!!

A prescription drug in pill form called Marinol contains synthetic THC, the main ingredient in marijuana. But it doesn’t work for everyone, and its results are slow-arriving and unpredictable, Mirken said.

“If you talk to cancer patients, they don’t want to get high,” he said. “They just don’t want to feel sick.”

meanwhile a woman lay dying, vomiting, cannot eat in her bed… while we fight over laws regarding her smoking three (yes count them) three marijuana joints.

Although this is not a religious site, it would seem to many that the message of mercy and compassion is exactly what Jesus taught, and those who are religious would support medical marijuana.

Congressman Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, will vote in favor of legalizing medical marijuana for the second straight year.

This time, however, he has the support of seven religious leaders in the 17th district. Clergy from the Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ are standing by Hare in the push to legalize the Schedule I drug.

“Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy and compassion,” said the Rev. William Pyatt, Carthage United Methodist Church, in a news release. “Being seriously ill is stressful enough already without living in fear of arrest for taking doctor-recommended medicine.”

An additional 55 religion leaders throughout Illinois have added their support to the legislation.

Religious leaders in support of medical marijuana legislation to help protect patients who use cannabis as a doctor-approved medication.

Hare agrees that a patient comfort should come first.

“We want to give patients the best quality of life,” Hare said. “As long as it is done within the consultation of a doctor.”

The legislation would prevent the federal government from interfering in state medical marijuana laws. Currently 12 states allow the use of medical marijuana. It is often used for patients with cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Why does this member of congress support medical marijuana?

Hare noted his time spent as a hospice volunteer as an influence on his position, commenting on how he was humbled by several of the patients. One specific patient with lung cancer stands out as one of his most memorable. The patient, an older man, confided in Hare his last wishes were to sit with his cat, drink a beer and have a conversation with someone.

So Hare brought the man a six-pack of Bud Light and his cat. The two sat and talked for hours, sipping beer.

Two weeks later, after the man died, his wife approached Hare, telling him how much the gesture meant to her husband.

Hare became a hospice volunteer after the death of his mother.

The story reflects Hare’s position on medical marijuana.

If more of the people trying to stop medical marijuana were forced to spend time with actual patients who use cannabis to live, they may actually show some compassion.

Hare said medical marijuana is not given for patients to get high, but to make them comfortable.

Morphine and fentanyl are more efficient medications for pain relief McClean said. The two can also be given multiple ways — by patch, mouth or even as a suppository — making it easier for the patient. While both Schedule II medications are heavily addictive, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, McClean said patients can be weaned off them. He also said addiction is not an issue for terminally ill patients because “when they have two weeks to live, we don’t worry about addiction.”

Patients across America are given much more addicting substances as medicine. And even the religious are beginning to support medical marijuana in public and through their church.

We need your support for medical marijuana on the internet. Please link this site and/or image to show your support for medical use of cannabis.

Patients in every state are fighting for their right to use a natural plant as pain relief, whether it is from cancer, or debilitating migraine’s - if you have a blog or web site - put a link to Reschedule Cannabis to show your support.

Any American citizen who needs to use marijuana as medicine should be allowed to do so which is why we put together this site to help spread the message that “Cannabis is medicine and should be rescheduled so that it may be used legally for medicine.”

Current news regarding Illinois Voter support for medical marijuana within the state.

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS — Illinois residents favor allowing seriously and terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes by a 68-27 percent margin according to a new poll.

The poll by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. and paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project was conducted by phone and surveyed 625 randomly selected registered Illinois voters between Feb. 9 and Feb. 16. The survey asked whether respondents believe “seriously and terminally ill patients should be allowed to use and grow medical marijuana for personal use if their doctors recommended it.”

Support was strong across the state, ranging from 70 percent in Chicago to 65 percent in downstate areas.

Majority support for allowing the use of medical marijuana by seriously ill patients was found among Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Democrats favored medical marijuana access by an overwhelming 82-14 percent margin, while Republicans supported the idea by a smaller, but still decisive, 54-41 percent margin. Independents were also strongly favorable, supporting medical marijuana by a margin of 68-27 percent.

The poll results could have a significant impact in the General Assembly this year. Bills to allow the medical use of marijuana have been introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly. A similar bill failed last year in the State Senate, but the latest poll indicates that supporting this years’ efforts could be politically helpful to legislators.

“These numbers prove what we’ve known all along: Illinoisans see this as a matter of compassion and common sense,” said John Walker, director of Illinois Compassion Action Network, an organization of patients, doctors and advocates working to pass the state’s medical marijuana law. “Our elected representatives should take note of what their constituents are telling them about the need for a law to protect our seriously ill citizens who rely on medical marijuana for some small relief from their debilitating symptoms.”

It’s common sense to be compassionate to understand and support medical marijuana.

Another Senator behind legislation to make medical cannabis available to Americans.

SPRINGFIELD — State Sen. John Cullerton is making another run at legislation that would make it easier for the seriously ill to legally use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“This is about the patients. It’s not about somebody abusing this law to illegally obtain marijuana,” said Sen. Cullerton, D-Chicago.

Wednesday, a Senate committee approved a measure that would allow people to obtain a state-issued medical marijuana identification card so they could legally possess and use marijuana.

More and more states should follow.

Julie Falco, of Chicago, has suffered from debilitating multiple sclerosis for more than 20 years. To ease the pain, she eats 1-inch marijuana brownie cubes three times a day.

Medical marijuana patients do not need to “smoke” the medicine. The woman above chooses to ingest her medicine, via “pot brownies.” Or, by using a vaporizer provides a safe, controlled use of “marijuana as medicine.”

Ms. Falco told lawmakers that she has tried many pharmaceutical drugs for her disease, but marijuana is the only thing that seems to help her symptoms without causing negative side effects. Still, there is always the worry that she will get in trouble, she said.

Sen. Cullerton said the purpose of his bill is to decriminalize the use of marijuana by those who really need it for legitimate medical reasons. A similar bill has been introduced by a Republican lawmaker in the Illinois House.

Under Sen. Cullerton’s bill, a medical marijuana program would be administered by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Qualifying patients would receive an ID card after providing written certification from their doctors.

Decriminalize, and realize most Americans support the idea that marijuana is medicine.