You didn't read about this in the News-Gazette. Their editorial board usually tries to paint Democrats in a bad light at the drop of a hat. However, they also have a policy of silencing substantive discussion on any aspect of the drug war that deals with promoting enlightened public policy. Most notable is their silence about the longstanding efforts of ill Illinois citizens who would benefit from legal access to medical cannabis who are working to stop the insanity of some of our drug laws.

So what is State Senator Mike Frerichs' dark secret?

Has Sen. Frerichs toked up like approximately half of all Americans at one point in their lives? Who knows?

Is the Senator still eligible to be an FBI agent? Could be, as the FBI has faced the reality that some use of cannabis should not be a disqualification to serve.

Does Mike have to sneak out to one of the twelve states that currently allow medical use of cannabis to get treatment for a condition he doesn't want to publicly acknowledge? I don't care, because safe and effective medical treatment should be something decided between the patient and their doctor, not dictated by police state tactics.

I spoke with several people who lobbied Sen. Frerichs to support SB 650, the Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act. While they reported that he did listen to their arguments patiently, it's apparent that the substantive arguments they made in requesting that Frerichs support legal access to cannabis for medical reasons fell on stone deaf ears.

On May 10, 2008, Sen. Frerichs again voted against forcing the state of Illinois to obey laws already on the books, just as he did a year ago.

Say what?

Yes, Illinois made provision in its laws for compassionate access to cannabis to treat serious medical conditions three _decades_ ago. One citizen told me he discussed this specifically with Sen. Frerichs. The senator told him that the state police had objections to this bill, which worried him about supporting a change in the law, and that their concerns needed to be addressed however Frerichs voted.

Now we know what he really thinks and about his own mettle when speaking truth to power.

My informant noted that it was rather ironic that Frerichs was particularly concerned about state police objections to the bill. After all, it was the state police who had been _specifically_ authorized under the 1978 law to design and implement a program to allow access to cannabis for medical use.

For the last 30 years, the state police could have set up ANY compassionate access program to medical cannabis they wanted -- with whatever restrictions they wanted to impose -- without even coming back to the legislature.

The state police could have had a medical cannabis access program EXACTLY the way they wanted at any time.

The problem is that the state police are unwilling to take direction from the representatives of the people, our elected legislators, just as they've been unwilling to obey the existing law on medical cannabis. The state police are instead playing those like Frerichs for fools by feeding them BS about the need to have the state police's "objections" met before a law is passed.

What SB 650 would have done is blown away the smoke that the state police and other lazy "drug warriors" are blowing up the asses of those who don't have the polictical courage to force the police to obey the law.

Gee, Mike, is it really that hard to think for yourself?

Do you really want to place otherwise law-abiding patients whose conditions aren't helped by anything BUT cannabis in the position of being criminals? Does enforcing mostly ignored laws against sick people represent a legitimate and worthwhile use of scarce public resources? Does anyone really think that the "drug war" does anything except represent a mostly unquestioned jobs programs for dumb white dudes with a penchant for focusing the forces of the law on minority communities when they don't have sick people to pick on?

The "drug war" is like the failed war in Iraq, only longer. It's time to stop the madness, assess what is effective about it and -- more importantly -- what has failed. It's time that our elected representatives find some backbone and get us out of the endless policy of facilitating all other black markets by keeping cannabis illegal, when it might be possible to call a truce against 90% of those who do use drugs -- other than alcohol and tobacco -- that is cannabis users.

Providing safe and effective treatment to those who can benefit medically from cannabis is the first step back from the madness that grips our legislators. Sen. Frerichs, be brave and join those who've repeatedly voted in favor of this very small, very moderate reform. Yes, it could be the first step in a new direction. It could be the start of a successful public policy, instead of the whirlpool in a cesspool that voting for the status quo is. That would be a good thing, because the stumbling like a drunken sailor in the other direction in Illinois has certainly been a failure.

For more info one what you can do to help rationalize Illinois' dysfunctional legal system in regards to cannabis,see:

Illinois NORML
Illinois Drug Education and Legal Reform
Marijuana Policy Project
Americans for Safe Access