Illinois House of Representatives To Pass Senate Bill 1381

WHEREFORE,

A. Cannabis provides relief to many patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease including Crohns disease, agitation of Alzheimers disease and other debilitating illnesses;

B. In 1988, after reviewing volumes of evidence on cannabiss medical value, the DEAs chief administrative law judge found that cannabis, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man;

C. As of April 2010, fourteen other states have enacted medical cannabis laws, often with strong bipartisan support, and several other states are considering cannabis laws. A recent Pew Research Center poll shows that 73\% of U.S. citizens support medical cannabis laws;

D. Currently, patients do not have safe access to medical cannabis in Illinois. Patients should not have to go to back alleys or criminal areas to receive medicine, and should know that their medicine is unadulterated. The current law in Illinois presents patients with the following conflict: abide by the law and suffer or obtain cannabis for relief and risk personal safety and criminal prosecution;

F. S.B. 1381 establishes tight controls for qualifying patients to obtain medical cannabis (outline of legal controls will be posted on Facebook Illinois Chapter, Americans for Safe Access web page); and

G. S.B. 1381 has already passed the Illinois Senate, and support for S.B. 1381 already includes many Illinois physicians and nurses, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of HIV Medicine, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, two former U.S. Surgeons General, and clergy from Catholic, Evangelical, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist, and Jewish congregations and organization.

WE THEREFORE ASK THAT THE ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

1. Act out of compassion for suffering patients rather than fear for their perceived political safety;

2. Take this opportunity to take medical cannabis out of the illegal dealers hands and to control the distribution of medical cannabis to provide safe access for qualified patients; and

3. Pass S.B. 1381.