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* Sun-Times editorial…
We’ve said before that there’s no need to rush to legalize recreational marijuana, and it bears repeating now.
* Tribune editorial…
So there is no pressing reason to rush things.
According to Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), legislators like herself who’ve been working on a legalization bill have held at least 50 negotiating sessions, six legislative hearings and hosted 7 or 8 town halls over the past couple of years.
There has been no “rush.” All four legislative caucuses have been involved. Everyone is being heard. And we’ll see even more action as soon as the House and Senate committees start meeting.
So, enough already with this false narrative.
* Back to the Sun-Times editorial…
“What we’re seeing is a definite increase in crash risk that is associated with the legalized recreational use of marijuana,” said David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute, which conducted the study.
* Rep. Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans put out their own report not long ago. You should read the whole thing, but this part is important…
Though driving statistics today look for the presence of cannabis in vehicle crashes, reports are often inaccurate. The mere mention of marijuana in a case — whether the user was a driver, passenger or pedestrian — can result in the case being included in sweeping claims about driving
* Sun-Times…
Researchers have also found another potential land mine: the possibility that regular marijuana use causes mental health problems. We’re not talking 1930s “Reefer Madness” hysteria, either.
According to the National Academy of Medicine report, as author and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson pointed out in a recent Times op-ed, “cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.”
* Debunked…
The [National Academy of Medicine] report is very careful in its findings. It notes that there’s “substantial evidence” for an association between marijuana and psychotic disorders, and that the association is dose-dependent — greater risk correlates with heavier marijuana use. But the report also notes that the explanation for the association is unclear.
Berenson favors the idea that pot causes and worsens psychosis and psychotic disorders. The National Academies’ report, though, says that other possibilities are plausible: Maybe psychosis or psychotic disorders lead to marijuana use, or a third factor — say, genes or environment — leads to psychosis and marijuana use. It could be a mix of all these factors.
The conclusion, if there is one: “This is a complex issue, one that certainly warrants further investigation.” In other words, we don’t know yet.
Separately, the National Academies also analyzed studies on how marijuana affects symptoms of psychotic disorders. This research was more limited, although some evidence showed that a history of marijuana use may actually improve cognitive performance for people with psychotic disorders (which could explain why people with psychotic disorders self-medicate with weed, if that’s the case). But the report ultimately concluded that the evidence in this area was merely “limited” to “moderate,” so more research is necessary.
* Jim Dey relies on many of the same debunked theories…
Despite these warnings, our legislators in Springfield — revenue-hungry and homework-averse boneheads that they are — can be expected to move full speed ahead on Gov. Pritzker’s top priority.
Again, this ignores everything that’s been done over the years to get to this point.
* Rep. Cassidy gets the final word…
“States that have gone about this as a revenue-generator are going about it wrong.”
…Adding… OK, Sen. Steans now gets the last word…
State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) issued the following statement today after Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx came out in support of Steans’ proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis in Illinois:
“One of our primary goals with this legislation is to begin to repair the decades of damage from the War on Drugs, particularly within minority communities.
“We know we cannot undo the disproportionate harm prohibition caused among minorities, but we can keep a firm eye on social justice as we move forward with legalization.
“State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx has a stellar record of fighting for criminal justice reform in Cook County. Expunging records of people convicted of non-violent, cannabis-related misdemeanors is an excellent first step and will aid in removing obstacles to employment and housing. Her support is a vote of confidence, and I look forward to working with her as we craft the best piece of legislation possible.”
Foxx also said today: “In the interest of justice, we will begin to proactively seek conviction relief for all misdemeanor marijuana convictions.”
* Related…
* Manar to host town hall discussion on marijuana legalization
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:08 pm
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Yet, none of the naysayers are calling for the prohibition of alcohol.
Comment by Just Observing Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:11 pm
Alcohol is the leading cause of mental health issues according to the CDC. The Governor of Colorado who is pro legalization was quoted in the Denver Post this week begging other States not to legalize because they are making a ton of dough and the ski lodges are all booked up.
Comment by Al Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:15 pm
Rep. Cassidy has made a phenomenal point.
this should not be seen as a cash grab, looking at you CTU. This should be about government relinquishing one ounce of personal liberty it withholds from the hard working tax payer. And as an added benefit it will reduce some burdens on the IDOC.
keep up the good fight Rep. Cassidy.
Comment by Iggy Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:16 pm
I’d urge everyone to slow down and not rush to take any of these editorials or columnists too seriously.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:16 pm
Alcohol prohibition lasted 13 years and we teach high schoolers that it failed and why it failed. Cannabis prohibition has been going on for 80+ years and yet we aren’t supposed to rush to change this policy?!?
There will never be social justice or equity in the legal cannabis marketplace if homegrow isn’t included.
“The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff.”
Comment by Kentucky Bluegrass x Featherbed Bent x Northern California Sinsemilla Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:23 pm
“We’re not talking 1930s “Reefer Madness” hysteria, either.
According to the National Academy of Medicine report, as author and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson pointed out in a recent Times op-ed,”
Alex Berenson’s book - which his op-ed was written to sell - is called Tell Your Children, which was Reefer Madness’s original title. He is not a legitimate voice in this conversation.
Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:24 pm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26515984
That’s the most recent free article I can find on what actual scientists think about legalization.
Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:24 pm
Why are these people so concerned with other adults consumption of marijuana…while simultaneously ignoring the hundreds of thousands who die,annually,caused from consuming deadly tobacco…I often wonder?
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:25 pm
Light up everybody
Join us in this celebration
Light up and be happy
Sweet, sweet sounds will fill the air…
Comment by Styx Remastered Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:25 pm
Why rush? The entire west coast, Colorado, DC and now Michigan have already taken the lead and are reaping the rewards due to first mover advantage. Colorado earned boatloads of revenue when they legalized because it was a novelty attraction. All of Canada has legalized for crying out loud.
By the time Illinois collects its first dime from legal, recreational marijuana, we’ll have lost a fortune in revenue that should have been ours for the taking.
Go slow, they said. Don’t rush, they said. Fix the pensions, they said. Do they even hear themselves?
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:25 pm
What amount of legislative dithering will please the galaxy brains at the Trib and Sun-Times? Like you said, there have been dozens of hearings, town halls, meetings with stakeholders, etc. They’ve been working on it since before J.B. even announced his campaign. Should we wait for 40 hearings? 50? A breakthrough study that no one can conduct because cannabis is still illegally to study with federal grant money?
Comment by PJ Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:26 pm
It’s the same garbage they did with the ACA. They spent 13 months writing it and getting the doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies on board. Then the opposition was like whoa whoa whoa this is all happening too fast.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:27 pm
Just legalize it already. It is so easily available right now and the state gets nothing for it. May as well monetize it. Our pension system will be pleased.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:27 pm
well, no rush except for medical maladies that aren’t yet on the approved list that can be soothed with marijuana. and there’s also that fiscal issue that will be helped by making it legal. money received by governments and money not spent on law enforcement for possession of plant material.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:27 pm
Require marijuana dispensaries to publish legal notices and the newspaper industry will suddenly demand it be passed immediately and blast lawmakers for dragging their feet.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:32 pm
Michelle Flaherty has hit upon the perfect solution.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:33 pm
I have not been a Foxx fan but I do support these expungements. Good on her.
Comment by Original Rambler Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:34 pm
The rush is get it done before someone publicly reveals all of the lawsuits and criminal activity of the Pilot program the Department of Ag is trying to keep a lid on.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:35 pm
The NAM report wasn’t so much “debunked” as it was misinterpreted by Berenson. Lopez’s article, if you read it in detail does a reasonable job of summing up where the clinical evidence is right now with regard to cannabis, though both of them seem to conflate “psychosis” with “schizoprenia” and other permanent/chronic psychotic disorders. High TCH cannabis use is known to induce psychosis in patients who don’t go on to develop lasting symptoms if they stop using and these patients wouldn’t meet criteria to be considered to have schizophrenia or a similar disorder.
Sadly Berenson (and people like Gladwell who summarized his book) got way too into hypotheticals about “gateway drugs” for which the evidence is far weaker than other MH risks with cannabis use, which distracted people from the main point that cannabis use, particularly with modern high concentration THC products, are riskier than people want to admit.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be moving forward with legalization from a policy standpoint, there’s good and bad to it. However, the current medical cannabis system in IL is a poorly-regulated mess right now.
Comment by ChrisInCHI Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:36 pm
to the “whoa whoa take it slow” crowd I’d say:
“This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.” - MLK
nearly 70% of the American population supports this policy. who are any of you to tell us no?
Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:39 pm
@the Patriot- What lawsuits are you referring to?
Comment by {Sigh} Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:41 pm
@ the Patriot- if you are referring to the lawsuits regarding petitions, that falls under IDPH, not Ag.
Comment by {Sigh} Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:43 pm
Remember language matters and the discussion is about Cannabis and Hemp. Marijuana was a fabricated term by out of work Alcohol Control Agents looking for work and an excuse to hassle Jazz musicians and Mexican immigrants.
Comment by Al Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:47 pm
If we keep saying now’s not the time to legalize marijuana, the time will never come. It’s an excuse, and it needs to go. Pot has been with us for decades. We have a real good idea of what pot does, the good and the bad. The bad of prohibition far outweighs the good.
By the way, some of the nicest and most well-adjusted people I know smoke marijuana. It’s past time to stop criminalizing and stigmatizing responsible adults who smoke weed.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:50 pm
The only pilot program I could find dealing with the Dept of Ag is a pilot program for industrial hemp. Found that there is one suit in regards to growing hemp and that is in West Virginia.
https://wvah.com/news/local/prosecutor-continues-lawsuit-against-mason-county-hemp-farm
Comment by Nearly Normal Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:57 pm
The question is will there be enough votes to pass. Democrats can afford 14 nays/presents in the House, and 10 in the Senate, a pretty good cushion. How many Republicans will vote yea and help out?
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 1:59 pm
@Grandson of Man- I think we’ll be surprised by the number of R yes votes. Many of the newer members are younger and more attuned to how the issue has changed. Others are from rural districts being decimated by the opiod epidemic and are looking for anything that will help alleviate that issue for their constituents.
Comment by Former Downstater Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:07 pm
===will there be enough votes to pass===
Once it’s done, yes.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:07 pm
Here is an article about a shipment of hemp that was recently found in Oklahoma. Issue is whether it’s hemp or marijuana. There is no field test to tell the difference and the federal lab is closed by the shutdown.
https://tinyurl.com/ya6nvor8
Comment by Nearly Normal Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:16 pm
If the naysayers were really interested in preventing harm they would be calling for the prohibition of alcohol, but, of course, they are not that ignorant of history.
Comment by striketoo Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:23 pm
“I think we’ll be surprised by the number of R yes votes.”
I sure hope so and would love to see it.
“Once it’s done, yes.”
Thank you. I am very encouraged.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:26 pm
It is Department of Ag and you can FOIA the FOIA’s from the Department on any facility and trace the steps of any attorney suing these companies.
FOIA any county where they sit and search the names in the court websites. Most of the rural counties use judici.com,
Go look at the facilities. The company publicly promised money going into the community and a well maintained facility. Not only have they never donated a penny, it looks like a bomb went off.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:27 pm
This discussion has hit upon a serious issue. Will young people partaking of the drug find it a gateway to their grandparents’ Styx albums?
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:41 pm
While reading this uninformed claptrap, I stumbled upon one of those rare instances where I wished I was one of the unenlightened masses, deriving all of my worldly knowledge from Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Enough with the Chicken Little-esque fear-mongering. Get it passed. Now.
Comment by RoscoeRatMatt Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:01 pm
That seems absolutely ridiculous. You would think police departments would have THC testing kits. No THC=hemp. THC=marijuana. They can find it in your pee. They can find it in your blood. They can find it in your hair. But they sure can’t find it in the plant itself. What a weird world we live in nowadays.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:07 pm
For crying out loud. They are smoking it already. Legalize it and tax it already.
Comment by Generic Drone Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:02 pm
“If we can’t grow it,it isn’t legal”, is what activists in Michigan said when Republican lame ducks failed to override the will of the people’s desire to grow marijuana…specifically…the Voting Public who are citizens of Michigan…who…by the way…are legally able to grow 12 plants.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:28 pm
Agreed that recreational cannabis legalization is clearly going to happen in Illinois. Michigan legalizing cemented that. The question now is will they allow home grow? Even though original bills did include home grow of up to 5 plants, from a cynical perspective I will not be surprised if they only allow only recreational sales when it is all said and done.
Comment by Illinois Resident Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:27 pm
Prohibitionists much think really highly of themselves when 66% of our residents want cannabis legalization and they still want to impose their propaganda, ignorance, and lies.
Comment by Illinois Resident Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:35 pm
Having mental illness is painful. Psychiatrists are hard to find for people with good insurance. Medicaid psychiatrists are unicorns. Why are is it a mystery that mentally ill people turn to recreational drugs?
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 6:01 pm
Da Big Bad Wolf - Agree with you on your premise. Said that, not everyone who takes “drugs” has a problem. Beer is a “drug” and the vast majority of people do not abuse alcohol. It is irrational to ban and criminalize substances from adults choosing to take it for any reason. If an abuse problem occurs with said individual, it is a health issue.
Comment by Illinois Resident Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 6:09 pm
–Michelle Flaherty has hit upon the perfect solution.–
As Michelle often does, in a short, laser-beam truth and clarity only rivaled by Mr. JM.
The silly cowardice and hypocrisy by the edit board gas bags is beyond absurd.
Over the last 30 years or so to this day, I can’t tell you how many Sun-Timers and Tribbies I’ve smoked dope with by the dumpsters outside the Goat. Got real drunk with them, too, countless times.
And that goes all the way to the tippy-top of the goofs who supposedly are signing off on these reactionary editorials.
I guess it’s okay for elite white people to smoke dope illegally, but for the unwashed masses to do so, legally, not so much. Can you believe that stuff?
That kind of weaselly cowardice is how you end up with the sadness of an endorsement of Gary Johnson for president, when the only grown-up choices were Trump or Clinton.
The irony is, that Johnson dude obviously smoked a lot of dope.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 8:31 pm
First they came for the jazz musicians….
Comment by Winderweezle Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 10:00 pm
Good points:
* “States that have gone about this as a revenue-generator are going about it wrong.” Let’s hope that wisdom survives the legislative process.
* Modern high THC products are riskier. Which is why a cap on THC levels is appropriate.
Comment by anon2 Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 7:48 am
Illinois Resident, wasn’t trying to say something mean about pot smokers or alcohol drinkers in general.
I was just reacting to the National Academy of Medicine’s finding of an “association of marijuana and psychotic disorders.” Well duh.
It’s like saying there’s an association between rainy weather and number of umbrellas sold. Of course then you have Berenson saying buying an umbrella will cause it to rain. Lol.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 11:40 am