Lobbyist Says Illinois' Medical Marijuana Program Needs Improvement

[Jacob Redmond]

Illinois' medical marijuana program has generated nearly $211,000 worth of sales since the first dispensaries opened on Monday. That's with only a quarter of the eligible patients actually purchasing pot.

Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, said there's still room for improvement with Illinois' medical marijuana law.

"We want to see the program improved. We want to see the test period extended so that legislators actually do get to see its performance over the amount of time they anticipated when they passed the law," Lindsey said. "We want to see more conditions (added) so that we don't see seriously ill patients in Illinois left behind."

The nearest dispensaries to the Twin Cities are in Canton and Ottawa.

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Full Article: Lobbyist Says Illinois' Medical Marijuana Program Needs Improvement
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[Smokeater]

I agree that Illinois NEEDS improvement. I wrote to every politician for 2 years before they voted on starting a trial period, According to the Congress woman for our area (Northern Illinois, even further north than Chicago), My letter to her was even read in Springfield prior to the vote and supposedly made a difference in the vote when they heard my story. I'm a permanently disabled Firefighter/Paramedic (Now in a wheelchair) that risked my life for a long time (almost 15 years) until I was injured while carrying a VERY large person out of their house on a call and blew out my back and neck leaving me in chronic pain with PTSD as well as soul crushing migraines (and until Illinois adds new conditions to who qualifies, I don't even qualify yet). I have to take 3 class 2 narcotics everyday just to function with the pain and they are destroying my Kidneys and liver which will kill me sooner than later which is the reason I have pushed so hard all this time to get it legalized medically and I'm still out in the cold with no help. I can't even get my card for 2 reasons, 1. The conditions Illinois has set to allow people to use it doesn't include me even though I'm completely debilitated by the pain, PTSD, migraines as well as depression from no longer being able to do my job and 2. I have asked everyone I can think of including the dispensary that just opened for help finding a Doctor in the area that will write it for me so I can get a card if the new conditions do go into effect soon (Illinois started it's trial program almost 2 years ago of a 4 year trial program and we JUST (last week, October, 2015) opened our first dispensaries. I think Illinois is intentionally setting it up so it WILL fail) but the new conditions proposed will have to be added to the list of conditions that qualify so that I qualify for it before my meds kill me. I have tried cutting back on my narcotics so I can quit using them, but that leaves me with zero quality of life due to the horrific pain I'm in 24/7. Nobody I've written too has tried to help (including the MPP who I've been a member of for years now) and I have no idea whats going to happen to me. It is actually a life or death situation and I can't get any help from anyone. Even my pain Doc and family Doc won't write prescriptions for it (They both say they will NEVER write it for anyone) and I have asked everyone I can think of for help and the most I've gotten is a couple of good hearted people telling me how to apply to the Illinois program which doesn't help as I have no idea where I can find a Doc that will write a script for it and I still don't qualify for Medical Marijuana in Illinois because of how restrictive the conditions they have limited it too. Supposedly they are adding new conditions that will include me, but no one has a clue when these will go into effect (or even IF they will for sure). I am truly screwed because Illinois ( I believe) is setting the whole thing up to fail and to only help a very small percentage of people here leaving out all the people that are in the same boat as me. if anyone has any idea as how I can get help, please respond back to this and let me know. The problems here in Illinois are so twisted and political I have almost zero hope for any help in time to save me. I already know the site where you can apply for the card here, but with out a Doctor willing to write the script within the time limits Illinois has set up, I'm just hopelessly screwed because I will only do it legally because of my pension, and which my family will need if I'm gone. I know I will be (hopefully) voting differently at the next elections and hope others will too because most of our politicians are intentionally dragging their feet it seems until the trial period runs out and they can say they gave it a 4 year trial even though they have kept it impossible to get any medical marijuana for over 2 years of the 4 year program and kept it so limited as to who qualifies that the suffering here is almost as bad as the states with no program at all. For Gods sake, It's only marijuana. I worked as a full time Firefighter/Paramedic for a long time and have NEVER seen or heard of a marijuana O.D., but have seen so many people die as a result of alcohol poisoning or accident due to alcohol it's unbelievable that Illinois is so close minded to medical marijuana that they will let people die from either my problems or due to alcohol which they seem to feel is a safe substance no matter how it's used it's unbelievable to even think that they (The politicians) care about the people living here. We would move to another state, but have recently bought a house that we saved 27 years for and on what a Firefighter gets as a disability pension, we just can't afford it. Thanks to anyone who actually spent the time reading all my ramblings, I'm just so scared of dying and depressed by all this, I can't write it shortly as to where the problems all lay. Good Luck to anyone else in a situation like me.