I encourage kids not use marijuana and other drugs as an escape. I don't now if marijuana causes permanent brain damage or not, there's so much contradictory information out there. But I do know that the drug is a distraction from one's true potential. I tell the truth as I know it.

When it comes to legalizing medicinal cannabis, as is the latest debate in llinois, however, it's difficult sifting through fear and plain-spoken truths.

Pending legislation (SB650), introduced by state Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, states that legalizing the drug will bring comfort to patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other debilitating conditions.

The proposal left me a little confused. It's against federal law to prescribe marijuana. Is this a serious bill, or is Cullerton pushing some sort of symbolic legislation? No, he told me, his bill will bring immediate help to sick patients. "Similar laws have been enacted in 12 other states. Ninety-nine percent of all drug laws are enforced by the states," he said. "It's not that we'll be breaking federal law, we just won't be enforcing it."

Opponents, like those affiliated with the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems, call it a "scam" that will eventually move the country closer to fully legalizing marijuana. Anita Bedell, executive director of the organization, raised a legitimate point when we spoke Monday: "Illinois already has a problem. If kids think it's medicine, they won't consider it as dangerous."

High school kids already have better access to marijuana than those who need it for medical purposes, countered Charles Thomas, executive director of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, a national organization seeking "compassionate" alternatives to America's war on drugs.

Cullerton's bill, Thomas told me, would protect patients prosecuted for possessing cannabis. "It's morally wrong to punish people who make an attempt to relieve their suffering."

Bedell said she would like to see more research into the medical benefits of cannabis.

Last week, Harvard University released research that indicated that the active ingredient in cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol) cuts tumor growth in "common lung cancer in half" and "significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread." "Can you imagine if a doctor wanted to prescribe this treatment to a cancer patient?" Cullerton asked. "He or she couldn't because it's illegal."

Late last month, 50 religious leaders throughout Illinois signed a "statement of principle," urging the state Senate to pass Cullerton's bill. Charles Thomas of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative sent me a list of religious leaders from across the nation who also "officially" support legalizing medical cannabis. The group includes Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, representatives of the Union for Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Association, Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ.

I asked Cullerton why his controversial bill seems to have resonated with so many religious leaders. "Because it's about compassion," he said. "People are ill. This bill gets them the help they need without making them criminals."

It's about helping sick people, not serving addictions. I liked Cullerton's style - no fluff.  Just the truth, as he knows it.

 

Source: Sylvester Brown Jr., St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO), April 24, 2007 -