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Whether to allow sick people to use marijuana to alleviate their pain has been considered by Illinois lawmakers in session after session.
The legislation has never passed because of a combination of political cowardice, hardened law enforcement opposition and fears about it being a stepping-stone to legalization.
As usual, Illinois lawmakers are behind the curve. They should not only legalize marijuana for medicinal use but also for recreational use, as voters had the sense to do in November in Colorado and Washington state. The Illinois Constitution has no provision for voter-initiated referendum, so it's up to lawmakers to act.
More than 850,000 people were arrested nationwide in 2009 for breaking marijuana laws and nearly 90 percent were busted for simple possession, according to the FBI's uniform crime reports. Half of the drug arrests in the nation are marijuana related. More than 25 million people a year smoke marijuana, according to a federal survey.
Is marijuana addictive? The evidence on this varies, but we have no doubt that some people can't do without it. It's certainly not as addictive as other, harder drugs, such as methamphetamines or heroin.
Is it harmful? It's certainly not good for your lungs, impairs judgment and can increase the risk of a heart attack, as can be expected from any drug in which you inhale chemicals into your lungs. That being said, it also alleviates pain for those who suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
But none of the harm from using marijuana is worse than the other two legalized drugs in the United States: alcohol and tobacco. It's hard to take anyone who argues otherwise seriously.
Those drugs are heavily regulated and taxed. Laws can be enacted to bar those under the influence of marijuana from driving, just as we do with alcohol, and to bar smoking it in public, just as Illinois has done with cigarettes.
This state and 47 others spend billions imprisoning people who have bought and/or sold marijuana. If there is one silver lining from the recession, it has caused government to reexamine its spending priorities. Spending money to incarcerate people for using or selling marijuana and impairing their ability to get a job and be good, productive citizens ought to be near the top of the list when it comes to reconsidering the state's priorities for spending.
Instead of tossing poor people off of Medicaid to save money, maybe the state can toss those who have sold or possessed marijuana out of prison, clear their records and close a few more facilities in the Department of Corrections.
Allowing the sale of marijuana also could be a potential revenue source, although saving money on prison costs and instituting a more just criminal justice system is our primary motivation for urging the legislature to consider legalization.
Marijuana prohibition's resiliency largely stems from the culture wars of the 1960s and young baby boomers' rebellion against their parents and society. Every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has admitted trying the drug. Politicians of both parties continue to fight that war even though the baby boomers are now in their 60s and marijuana usage is spread across all ages and races. People should not be made into criminals for it.
States are the laboratories of democracy, and Colorado and Washington took the first step toward nudging the nation to re-examine its costly and overly punitive drug laws. The voters in both of those states did Illinois and other states a favor. They made it mainstream and socially acceptable to seriously consider and discuss marijuana legalization. Illinois should start having that discussion.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: sj-r.com
Author: The Editorial Board
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Our Opinion: Why stop with legalizing medical marijuana? - The Dome - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
The legislation has never passed because of a combination of political cowardice, hardened law enforcement opposition and fears about it being a stepping-stone to legalization.
As usual, Illinois lawmakers are behind the curve. They should not only legalize marijuana for medicinal use but also for recreational use, as voters had the sense to do in November in Colorado and Washington state. The Illinois Constitution has no provision for voter-initiated referendum, so it's up to lawmakers to act.
More than 850,000 people were arrested nationwide in 2009 for breaking marijuana laws and nearly 90 percent were busted for simple possession, according to the FBI's uniform crime reports. Half of the drug arrests in the nation are marijuana related. More than 25 million people a year smoke marijuana, according to a federal survey.
Is marijuana addictive? The evidence on this varies, but we have no doubt that some people can't do without it. It's certainly not as addictive as other, harder drugs, such as methamphetamines or heroin.
Is it harmful? It's certainly not good for your lungs, impairs judgment and can increase the risk of a heart attack, as can be expected from any drug in which you inhale chemicals into your lungs. That being said, it also alleviates pain for those who suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
But none of the harm from using marijuana is worse than the other two legalized drugs in the United States: alcohol and tobacco. It's hard to take anyone who argues otherwise seriously.
Those drugs are heavily regulated and taxed. Laws can be enacted to bar those under the influence of marijuana from driving, just as we do with alcohol, and to bar smoking it in public, just as Illinois has done with cigarettes.
This state and 47 others spend billions imprisoning people who have bought and/or sold marijuana. If there is one silver lining from the recession, it has caused government to reexamine its spending priorities. Spending money to incarcerate people for using or selling marijuana and impairing their ability to get a job and be good, productive citizens ought to be near the top of the list when it comes to reconsidering the state's priorities for spending.
Instead of tossing poor people off of Medicaid to save money, maybe the state can toss those who have sold or possessed marijuana out of prison, clear their records and close a few more facilities in the Department of Corrections.
Allowing the sale of marijuana also could be a potential revenue source, although saving money on prison costs and instituting a more just criminal justice system is our primary motivation for urging the legislature to consider legalization.
Marijuana prohibition's resiliency largely stems from the culture wars of the 1960s and young baby boomers' rebellion against their parents and society. Every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has admitted trying the drug. Politicians of both parties continue to fight that war even though the baby boomers are now in their 60s and marijuana usage is spread across all ages and races. People should not be made into criminals for it.
States are the laboratories of democracy, and Colorado and Washington took the first step toward nudging the nation to re-examine its costly and overly punitive drug laws. The voters in both of those states did Illinois and other states a favor. They made it mainstream and socially acceptable to seriously consider and discuss marijuana legalization. Illinois should start having that discussion.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: sj-r.com
Author: The Editorial Board
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Our Opinion: Why stop with legalizing medical marijuana? - The Dome - Springfield, IL - The State Journal-Register
