Possible medical marijuana vote in Illinois Senate this week -- lobby day tomorrow

Now that Sen. John Cullerton's (D-Chicago) medical marijuana bill, S.B. 2568, has passed through the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the Illinois Senate is poised to vote on the bill this week. In order to pass this critical legislation, we need your help.

Please join medical marijuana patients and health care advocates to lobby your state legislators tomorrow, March 1, at the state Capitol in Springfield. If you are able to participate in this vital effort, please call George Pappas of IDEAL Reform — an MPP grant recipient — at (630) 533-1989 or e-mail george@idealreform.org for details. Please remember to dress and act professionally; we want to engage legislators, not alienate them.

Regardless of whether you can attend the lobby day tomorrow, please click here to write a letter to your state senator today, urging him or her to support Cullerton’s medical marijuana bill. With just a few clicks, our automated system will allow you to send a pre-written letter to your legislator, or you can compose the letter yourself.

Please take action now.

The bill — which would protect people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other serious illnesses from criminal penalties for using medical marijuana with their physicians' advice — passed the committee in a 6-5 vote following a public hearing on February 15. This inspiring victory marks the first time a medical marijuana bill has passed a committee in Illinois in recent years.

With reputable organizations such as the Illinois Nurses Association speaking out for medical marijuana patients and with massive public support — a new statewide poll by Anzalone-Liszt Research, Inc., found 62% support for medical marijuana legislation — MPP is hopeful that seriously ill Illinoisans will soon get the protection they deserve.

Please join IDEAL Reform for the lobby day tomorrow, and write your state senator today.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this message along to your friends and family in Illinois so that others can stand up for the state’s most vulnerable residents.