When I was battling cancer, I used cannabis to help me through the debilitating nausea that otherwise rendered me nonfunctional. It was a godsend in its effectiveness. The decision to obtain and use medical cannabis illegally weighed heavily on me and is a situation that no patient who needs this medicine should ever have to face.

This legislation would permit very sick patients with certain diseases to use cannabis without fearing arrest, and, at the same time, maintain the proper safeguards and penalties for the unauthorized, nonmedical use of cannabis. ID cards are provided for, there are reasonable limits on possession, employers do not have to accommodate use, driving under the influence is strictly prohibited and public use is forbidden. In short, this bill does what it is supposed to do while protecting everyone.

My doctors pulled me through this trying time, and I trusted their judgment. They are the ones who are qualified to decide about what to prescribe. Let's take these decisions out out of the hands of politicians and law enforcement officials and give them that opportunity.

Jim Ware, Chicago Sun-Times (IL), April 24, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/letters/1541761,CST-EDT-vox24a.article