Ill. medical marijuana debate still smoking

UPDATE: We??ve just gotten a call from Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D.C., responding to this morning??s news conference.

Mirken said teen use of marijuana in the states where it is legalized for medical use has gone down, not up, as marijuana opponents claimed. He also called the idea that legializing the drug would expand drug cartel influence ??just bizarre.?

Both sides have been ratcheting up the rhetoric as this debate continues. Mirken called Andrea Barthwell??s positions on the prescription drug Marinol ?laughably false.?

Mirken said Marinol does not contain all the therapeutic benefits of smoking marijuana, as some claim.

??If the pill worked for everybody, there would be no medical marijuana movement,? Mirken said.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes would increase child marijuana use and expand the influence of international drug cartels, an anti-marijuana coalition said Thursday.

The group rallied against a proposal by state Sen. William Haine, D-Alton, expected to go before the full Senate next week that would authorize marijuana use to ease pain and nausea among the severely ill.

Haine??s bill would allow ill patients to grow up to three marijuana plants in their homes if their doctor approves.

But opponents of the idea, which included various Illinois law enforcement groups, say the bill is narly impossible to enforce and that even three plants would produce more marijuana than patients need.

They say this makes it more likely the drug will end up on the streets, especially in the hands of Illinois?? youth.

??The health and welfare of our children and the safety of our communities are the ultimate victims when the marijuana legalization lobby has its way,? said Andrea Barthwell, CEO of the Human Resource Development Institute.

Opponents have become even more vocal since the Marijuana Policy Project launched an ad campaign earlier this month touting the proposal.

Eric Smith, president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said drug cartel members posing as medical marijuana growers ??are difficult, if not impossible, to detect in states with medical marijuana laws.?

??As a consequence, they can easily expand their influence and extend their reach into other communities,? Smith said.

Barthwell, a physician, said the prescription medicine Marinol, which harnesses the active ingredient in marijuana for relieving pain and easing nausea, is sufficient for those who want the benefits of marijuana.

Marijuana advocates, though, have said the Marinol pill is not as effective for some patients as smoking a joint.

Expect this debate to continue to sizzle here in Illinois.