From Illinois Radio Network
Representative Lou Lang (D) is the Assistant Majority Leader in Illinois' 16th District (1987-Present) hopes medical marijuana can be available to those who need it in Illinois.
(IRN)-The sponsor of a medical marijuana proposal in the Illinois House hopes that once the election is over, lawmakers will conjure up the political courage to vote for his bill.
State Representative Lou Lang says people in great pain, for example, those receiving chemotherapy, should get the relief they can gain only from carefully prescribed marijuana. He is proposing a three year pilot program, which has already passed the Senate.
Lang says marijuana is not very dangerous, particularly when compared not to alcohol or other drugs, but to narcotic prescription drugs, which are legal and which can be fatal.
Lang says he can count on 57 House votes, three short of the minimum, but more than 30 other representatives have told him they wish they could vote for it but are afraid to. Lang hopes that changes after Election Day, when the General Assembly is back for a veto session that will include a number of lame ducks.
Lang says he is not in favor of further decriminalization of marijuana, and says the program he is proposing is more restrictive than other states’ medical marijuana laws.
