Voicing His Beliefs

[PFlynn]

SYCAMORE - The effort to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois is often run from a dining room table in a rural Sycamore home.

Dan Linn is executive director of Illinois NORML - the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws - and splits his time between a family home in Sycamore and an apartment in Chicago, as well as a fair amount of time in Springfield when lawmakers are in session.

Given the organization's constant presence in the Illinois statehouse, many think the organization has a large Chicago office with dozens of staff members. It's to the point where he annually gets calls from students wanting to intern for the summer or unsolicited resumes from those who want to work for him.

Instead, the chapter is run almost entirely on volunteers, he said, although a grant helps compensate him for his time. It's often a tough road, he said, as the group contacts lawmakers and works to persuade them to legalize the herbal drug.

"The issue is a political hot potato where politicians feel they have nothing to gain and everything to lose if drug laws are relaxed," he said Tuesday.

This year, though, that army of volunteers is having some success. For the first time, legislation legalizing medical marijuana was approved earlier this year by the state Senate, although the House has yet to take action on it. The proposed measure can be acted on until 2010.

Linn's push to see state laws related to medical marijuana is rooted in a belief that people have a right to choose what they put into their bodies. He's been arrested for that belief, after police found marijuana in his possession that was intended for a friend. He got six months of court supervision.

He spent about three years as a caregiver for a quadriplegic friend who used marijuana to help control muscle spasms after the narcotics that doctors prescribed to him were no longer helping. And he's met dozens more who feel marijuana can help them manage the pain of various illnesses, such as cancer.

Linn got his first taste of politics in 2002, when he helped his older brother run an unsuccessful campaign for state representative in Lake County. That experience illuminated to him how easy it is to make contact with and discuss public policy issues with state and local elected officials.

His epiphany to fight to legalize marijuana came during a year he spent studying at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He felt laws offered more freedom in Canada, and decided to return home - he grew up in Fox Lake - to change drug laws in Illinois.

A good portion of his time is spent educating volunteers on how to lobby, he said, noting that many are afraid to speak up in support of legalizing marijuana.

"They think if they call ( a lawmaker's ) office, he's going to be on the phone with the DEA and the FBI will be knocking down the door in an hour," he said. "If you are not doing anything illegal, you are OK."

Voicing beliefs or concerns about laws is part of the civic process that all Americans are entitled too, he said.

"Once you start living in this fear, you have really undermined some of the basic principles our country was founded on," he added.

Linn doesn't envision a state where children would be able to legally light up, or one where adults would be able to drive after consuming it. Those who use it medicinally often don't want to smoke it either, he said.

"Especially for the elderly, the idea of putting some cannabis in some brownies or cookies is more appealing than firing up a water bong or lighting up a joint," he said.

But he does think marijuana should be legal in general, not just for medical purposes, and regulated similarly to the way cigarettes and alcohol are - by age and usage, for instance, similar to the way cigarettes cannot be smoked in public places or sold to those under 18.

When asked about studies that have found marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious narcotics, he said many of those studies have been disprove, and noted the first drugs many people try are alcohol and tobacco products.

"Look at the definition of drug, and it includes the alteration of the mind or mood of an individual," he said. "We could say that about sugar or Tylenol."

He also thinks farmers should be allowed to grow hemp, another plant in the cannabis family that is also illegal, because it is environmentally friendly. It can be used in paper, biodiesel and cording, he said. It could be taxable, providing money to its growers and the state. Hemp takes heavy metals out of the soil, he added, helping to produce a more fertile growing environment.

"Some people say hemp will save the world," he said. "There are a lot of problems in the world. I don't know if hemp will solve all of them. But as we look at green policies, it should be considered."



News Hawk: PFlynn - http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: Daily Chronicle (DeKalk, IL)
Author: Kate Schott
Copyright: 2009 Daily Chronicle
Contact: Thank you | Daily Chronicle
Website: Voicing his beliefs | Daily Chronicle

[Heavyherb]

that was great!