Title:
Ill.: Medical marijuana will likely have to wait
Message:
Yesterday, the Illinois Senate adjourned without taking up several high-profile bills, including medical marijuana. That means, unfortunately, patients in Illinois will likely have to wait at least a few months to see compassionate legislation removing criminal penalties for medical marijuana use approved in the state.
While disappointing, the news doesn’t come as a shock. We’ve been operating under a time crunch and against some competing issues all along. It also shouldn’t discourage you. While this shouldn’t be a partisan issue, Illinois Democrats do tend to support medical marijuana more than their Republican counterparts, and thanks to a strong showing in the November election, Democrats will have record supermajorities in both the Illinois House and Senate in the upcoming session, which starts next week. It won’t be a slam dunk by any means, but we’re more optimistic heading into the next session than we were going into this one.
Thanks to all of you for your calls, emails, and outreach to your friends in support of medical marijuana. It’s frustrating that we’re not over the finish line yet, but you’ve brought us closer to it. If you keep it up, you have my word that we will soon cross it.
Onward.
