In the weeds of the state’s medical marijuana law

On April 17 the Illinois House voted 61-57 in favor of the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program, authorizing state officials to set up a system for the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana for medical purposes. The state senate approved the legislation a month later and sent it to Governor Pat Quinn. As long as he doesn’t veto the bill, it will become law in August and the program will get under way on January 1, 2014.  

That will make Illinois the 20th state to put a medical marijuana law on the books.

But even advocates for the new law call it one of the most restrictive in the nation.

While the state’s medical cannabis program could help thousands of ill patients across the state, it will be limited to those with serious ailments who are willing and able to jump through multiple hoops. And even then they might not have easy access to marijuana, because only a few carefully regulated businesses will be licensed to grow and sell it. And the law expires in just four years.

“The bill is not perfect, but it’s the most perfect bill we could pass,” says its chief sponsor, Democratic representative Lou Lang of Skokie. “I do think after the four-year pilot program we’ll have a lot more information.”

Perhaps it will even lead to a decline in the reefer madness that’s dominated discussions of cannabis in Illinois for decades. “I’m hopeful that people will see this works OK and doesn’t lead to the downfall of civilization,” notes Eric Berlin, an attorney and patients’ advocate.

As we await further signs, it might help to know what the law says, what it doesn’t, and what that means for patients and potheads alike.

Democrats control pretty much everything in Illinois. Why has it taken so long for us to do what so many other places have already done—including very red states like Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada?

Despite being progressive in many ways, Illinois has been led for generations by politicians of both parties who’ve dismissed any talk of drug reform as being soft on crime.

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