"Illinois House lawmakers will likely not pass the dutchie until next legislative session."
That's lede from an NBC Chicago story today on medical marijuana in the Land of Lincoln about the imminent demise of the Compassionate Use of Medicinal Cannabis Pilot Program Act.
The bill, SB 1381, was passed last May by the state Senate and sent to the House, where it has languished in the Ways and Means Committee.
The proposal would have made Illinois the fourteenth state to legalize medical marijuana and would have allowed primary caregivers for people with "debilitating medical conditions" to provide up to two ounces of "dried usable cannabis" and seven plants.
It's not completely dead yet but it appears as though nothing is going to happen any time soon (via NWI.com):
Proponents of the bill had hoped it would have passed before the General Assembly left for a session break at the end of May, but the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said he couldn't get enough votes.
"That's because it's an election year and politicians are afraid to do what's right," said Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois Cannabis Patients Association.
He thinks politics plays a crucial role in whether or not the bill will get passed.
If Gov. Pat Quinn is re-elected, the bill will have more support than if Sen. Bill Brady wins because Brady is completely against the bill, he said.
The governor's race apparently sealed the bill's fate despite the fact that some of the state's leading Republicans said they were high on medical marijuana earlier this year.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Daily RFT
Author: Keegan Hamilton
Copyright: 2010 Riverfront Times, LLC.
That's lede from an NBC Chicago story today on medical marijuana in the Land of Lincoln about the imminent demise of the Compassionate Use of Medicinal Cannabis Pilot Program Act.
The bill, SB 1381, was passed last May by the state Senate and sent to the House, where it has languished in the Ways and Means Committee.
The proposal would have made Illinois the fourteenth state to legalize medical marijuana and would have allowed primary caregivers for people with "debilitating medical conditions" to provide up to two ounces of "dried usable cannabis" and seven plants.
It's not completely dead yet but it appears as though nothing is going to happen any time soon (via NWI.com):
Proponents of the bill had hoped it would have passed before the General Assembly left for a session break at the end of May, but the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said he couldn't get enough votes.
"That's because it's an election year and politicians are afraid to do what's right," said Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois Cannabis Patients Association.
He thinks politics plays a crucial role in whether or not the bill will get passed.
If Gov. Pat Quinn is re-elected, the bill will have more support than if Sen. Bill Brady wins because Brady is completely against the bill, he said.
The governor's race apparently sealed the bill's fate despite the fact that some of the state's leading Republicans said they were high on medical marijuana earlier this year.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Daily RFT
Author: Keegan Hamilton
Copyright: 2010 Riverfront Times, LLC.
