Illinois: Take action now before the medical marijuana bill comes to a vote!

Published: April 26, 2010

Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), House sponsor of the Illinois medical cannabis bill, has renewed his call for support for SB 1381. He was joined at a press conference by doctors, clergy, patients, and public health authority and Gov. Patrick Quinn’s personal physician Dr. Quentin Young. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 7, so time is growing short. We expect Rep. Lang to call for a vote on this bill within a matter of days, and need you to call upon your representative to support Illinois patients by voting "yes" on the bill

Please call your representative TODAY, and ask him or her to vote "yes" on SB 1381. After your call, please follow up with an e-mail using our automated system. Then, please ask your friends and family to follow suit.

We are within striking distance of the 60 votes needed to send the bill to Gov. Quinn for his signature. Gov. Quinn has stated that, "People who are seriously ill deserve access to all medical treatments that will help them fight their illness and recover." Through his spokesperson, the governor has signaled he will give "serious consideration" to a medical cannabis bill should it reach him.

Medical cannabis patients in Illinois are your friends, neighbors, parents, grandparents and children. You sit next to them in church, and you share their lives, perhaps even without knowing, because many of them continue to suffer in silence out of fear of the current law. As Rev. Al Sharp of the Protestants for the Common Good put it, "Illinois’s sick and suffering deserve mercy — not by being thrown into the justice system, but by being allowed to make private decisions with their doctors."

According to Rep. Lang, "Ninety-two [representatives] have looked me in the eye and said, ‘This is a great bill. I hope you pass it.’ But only 52 have said they’ll vote for it. They come up with all kinds of excuses. When you have elected officials who choose to vote against their own conscience for political reasons, that’s a recipe for bad politics." According to a 2008 poll, 68% of Illinois voters believe patients should have access to medical cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation. It is up to you to encourage your representative to join the great majority of Illinois voters who believe medical cannabis is right for Illinois, and to vote "yes" when the time comes.

Please call your representative today, and follow up with an e-mailed letter, reminding your representative that his or her "yes" vote is both politically popular and the right thing to do.

A successful House vote would send this bill to Gov. Quinn’s desk. Help us make Illinois the 15th state to protect patients from arrest and prosecution — to show them the compassion that they deserve. If you have friends, family, or neighbors that you think might support the rights of Illinois medical cannabis patients, please send them a copy of this alert so they can take action too. Don’t forget to post this alert on your social networking sites as well to get the word out that now is the time for Illinoisans to support their friends and loved ones who suffer from chronic and terminal illnesses by allowing them to use the medicine that works best for them.

On behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project and Illinois patients, thank you for your continued support.