ITG

Sick, Dying Need Sensible Marijuana Law
05/19/09 | Rockford Register Star | James Gierach and Jim Ware

If you’ve followed the debate regarding a bill to stop criminalizing seriously ill patients who rely on medical marijuana, you might believe Illinois’ law enforcement community has lined up unanimously to oppose this sensible, compassionate legislation.

It’s true that a few of our chiefs and police union leaders have appointed themselves spokespeople for the rapidly dwindling few who would still arrest suffering Illinoisans whose doctors recommend medical marijuana for relief.

But they do not speak for all who serve in law enforcement. We see laws requiring officers to harass and even arrest seriously ill people fighting for their very lives as cruel and wasteful not only to those suffering patients, but also to those of us who swore to protect and defend them.

We base our strong support for this medical marijuana legislation on our years of experience enforcing the law. We have listened carefully to our colleagues’ arguments against allowing doctors and patients to make treatment decisions involving medical marijuana, and we believe their opposition is sincere and heartfelt.

But it is not rooted in science or real-world experience and should be rejected.

If we understand the substantive foundation of the objection to carving a narrow exception to existing marijuana laws to allow its use by patients when conventional treatments have failed, it lies in the fear that doing so would invite widespread abuse and crime.

But there is no evidence to support this fear. In fact, the experience of the 13 states that have laws similar to the one being considered in Illinois suggests the opposite is true.

Eleven of those states have had laws on the books long enough to collect reliable data on youth marijuana use trends since establishing a medical marijuana law. In every single one of those states, teen marijuana use has dropped.

In many states, including California — whose medical marijuana law is nowhere near as tightly constructed as Illinois’ — those drops have been dramatic.

Then there’s the experience of the law enforcement officials who have actually dealt with medical marijuana laws firsthand. In a study conducted by the General Accounting Office (Congress’ investigational arm now called the Government Accountability Office) in 2002, officials from 37 law enforcement agencies in four medical marijuana states concluded that “medical marijuana laws have had little impact on their law enforcement activities.” Specifically, “very few or no encounters involving medical marijuana registry cards or claims of a medical marijuana defense” were cited.

More fundamentally, we believe this legislation is primarily a matter for patients and medical professionals.

It is the choice of those in Illinois law enforcement whether they wish to accept the conclusions of countless esteemed medical organizations that recognize medical marijuana’s value, including the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society, the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

While we share our colleagues’ concern that any medical marijuana law must be tightly controlled to prevent abuses, it should be pointed out that the pending legislation does exactly that. Not only is Illinois’ medical marijuana bill one of the most tightly written in history, but its sponsors have worked with opponents in the law enforcement community to address their specific concerns about the bill.

Illinois’ sick and dying cannot wait any longer for a sensible, compassionate law that allows them access to doctor-recommended medical marijuana when all other options have failed. The discomfort some in law enforcement may feel about such a law does not approach that of seriously ill patients who struggle every day for relief and who often risk arrest to achieve it.
As compassionate, concerned Illinoisans, we urge our elected leaders to act quickly on behalf of their most suffering constituents and pass this medical marijuana law now.

James Gierach is a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney currently in private practice in Chicago. Jim Ware is a former captain with the Anchorage Police Department and Illinois resident. He also used medical marijuana to counter the side effects of chemotherapy during his treatment of stage-4 cancer in 2005

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