More than 60 religious leaders in Illinois are calling on state senators this week to pass a bill that would allow patients to use medical cannabis with a doctor's recommendation and without criminal consequences.

"Medical cannabis is an issue of mercy and compassion," said the Rev. Bill Pyatt of the First United Methodist Church of Carthage. "It is the job of religious leaders to give voice to those who cannot speak up for themselves. We pray that the Illinois legislature will have the compassion to stop this war on patients."

But many religious leaders hope the discussion about easing restrictions on one kind of illegal drug use will open a wider conversation about treating all drug abuse and addiction as a public health issue instead of a crime.

"It stands on its own as a good thing to do," said Rev. Daniel Dale of Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ in the Lakeview neighborhood. "If it opens a debate to a larger discussion about criminalization and looking at other issues around drugs ... I would be very much in favor."

Religious proponents of the bill say although the issues of medical cannabis use and decriminalization of drug use are related, they are separate dilemmas. But there are theological arguments for both.

Several studies suggest that cannabis can mitigate nausea, pain and anxiety for patients with illnesses such as HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. Theological arguments are based on these findings.

"There is a moral obligation to heal and address suffering," said Rev. Al Sharp, executive director of Chicago-based Protestants for the Common Good. "Jesus lived his life healing those where he could and bringing those to the absence of pain. This is entirely consistent with that."

Denominations with official positions supporting medical cannabis include the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Union for Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Association, Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ.

If passed, the legislation would create a three-year pilot program allowing the state Department of Public Health to give registry identification cards to people with doctor's recommendations for cannabis. Eligible patients would be entitled to seven dried cannabis plants and two ounces of dried usable cannabis.

The Illinois State Police opposes the bill, saying there is no way to measure impairment for enforcement of DUI laws and calling cannabis a gateway drug.

For nearly a century, people of faith have wrestled with how to curb the use of mind-altering substances. Dale said his grandmother and great-grandmother hailed from the temperance movement of the late 19th Century, a largely Christian movement to ban alcohol and push for prohibition laws. But he said even they acknowledged that criminalization was not the answer.

Ever since President Richard Nixon coined the term "war on drugs," religious leaders have waged a "holy war" focused less on law enforcement and more on providing safe havens and recovery for drug addicts. Dale's church sponsors nine 12-step programs. He said the punitive approach to drug offenders does not acknowledge the possibility of personal transformation and conversion that are central to Christian belief.

"There are a lot of folks who are looking at re-entry of folks coming out of prison," Sharp said. "We need to look at it from the front end called 'no entry.' It is very repressive drug laws putting people in prison who should have other alternatives."

What do you think? Is permission to use medical cannabis a moral obligation to show compassion or immoral to encourage given that it's illegal?

Source:  Chicago Tribune,  April 28, 2009
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2009/04/medical-marijuana.html