By
Jeffrey R. Hall of
Hall, Rustom & Fritz, LLC
In
honor of the symbolism of April 20th, I have to publicly state that
marijuana possession should be legal in small, personal amounts for
recreational and medical uses. The nationwide trend is leaning towards
gradual de-criminalization and Illinois really needs to speed up their
repeal of legislation. I applaud the Illinois House passing medical
marijuana legislation but it is too restrictive, only covering serious
diseases such as AIDS and Cancer. Moreover, I find President Obama
incredibly hypocritical to smoke as much weed as he did in high school
and college and then keep Federal authorities prosecuting marijuana
users. Had he been prosecuted for his marijuana usage, he would've never
been President (and I'm sure that would make a lot of you happy out
there...) Positions need to be reconsidered.
Here is a list of reasons in support of my position:
1. Marijuana is less harmful to the body than alcohol,
nicotine/cigarettes, and other similar controlled substances, yet the
federal government classifies it with heroin, cocaine, and crystal meth.
2. Prescriptive pharmaceuticals are far more damaging to
body systems than marijuana. Any pill swallowed is hard on your liver
let alone all the other side effects you hear from TV ads for
medications...I mean, what the hell is "anal leakage" as a side effect
for a medication!?
3. There is substantial evidence to
support its treatment (easing of symptoms) of AIDS, alcoholism,
Alzheimer's, Anorexia, Arthritis, Autism, Brain Tumors, Cachexia,
Cancer, Chronic Pain, Chrohn's Disease, Depression, Diabetes,
Fibromyalgia, Glaucoma, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia (helping you fall
asleep and STAY asleep), Liver Fibrosis, Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis,
Nausea, PTSD, Seizures, and Tourette's Syndrome, among many others.
4. It will not lead to an increase in DUI offenses any more than
Budweiser releasing a new brand of beer will lead to more DUIs.
5. It will not lead to more crimes being committed as the critics
scared us about. Crime in California, Washington and Colorado has not
raised from its legalization. Go figure.
6. Scientific studies
show that your psychomotor functions are not as affected by marijuana as
they are by alcohol, especially in the regular amounts consumed by most
users when compared to the regular amounts of alcohol consumed.
7. Further, more crimes are committed as a result of alcohol
intoxication than marijuana intoxication by leaps and bounds. I do
quite well as an attorney and 90% of my cases relate to actions after
alcohol has been consumed. Thanks Budweiser!
8. Presently in
Illinois, you could go to prison for a mandatory minimum 3 years if you
are found to have THC metabolites in your system, regardless of
impairment or affect on the body, and you are involved in an accident
where someone dies (even if you are not at fault). That means you could
ingest THC via second hand smoke, not be impaired, and then the next
day, you are involved in a car accident where someone dies. The
inactive THC metabolites will show in your urine and you are looking at
the next 3 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
9. Moreover, Illinois law does not require evidence of impairment to be
found guilty of DUI. So long as any controlled substance is in your
system, whether active or inactive, you could face criminal charges.
What crime are we trying to prevent here? I thought we wanted to prevent
and/or punish impaired driving?
10. Finally, and most
importantly, as a former prosecutor, it bothered me to request jail time
for people arrested for possession of Cannabis but I had to at times.
It was hard to justify them going to jail, being paid for by tax payers,
when they weren't bothering anyone but simply had a small, personal
amount on them. As a defense attorney, I fight hard to keep clients out
of jail for these types of offenses. What is the public interest we
are protecting? When people go to jail for small amounts of marijuana,
they can lose their job, custody of their children, and we the taxpayer,
fund their 3 square meals a day as well as housing, when they are
locked up in our overcrowded jail cells - not to mention, after they
lose their job, they are placed on public aid. Sure you can say, "If
you don't want to lose your job, don't smoke." Well, the fact remains,
people will want to get high and self-medicate with marijuana,
regardless of what laws you have in place.
11. Thus, why
don't we de-criminalize and tax it? Isn't our State pretty broke? My
Illinois State income taxes nearly doubled last year. Couldn't we
subsidize those tax increases with de-criminalization and taxation of
its sale and regulation? I truly believe the benefits outweigh these
"harms" that the reefer madness movement in the 80s misinformed us
about. What are we afraid of?
Come on Illinois legislators, follow Colorado and Washington's lead on this.
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The attorneys at Hall, Rustom & Fritz LLC represent clients throughout the entire state of Illinois, including, but not limited to, the cities of Peoria, Morton, Washington, Pekin, Eureka, East Peoria, Dunlap, Metamora, Bartonville, Bloomington, Normal and any legal matter located in Peoria County, Tazewell County, Woodford County, Marshall County, Stark County, Henry County, Knox County and McLean County.
Article Author: Jeffrey R. Hall
Jeff Hall is managing partner at Hall, Rustom & Fritz LLC and concentrates his law practice in Criminal Law, DUI & Traffic law, driver's license reinstatement hearings and criminal record expungements.
If you have a legal question, email Jeff Hall.
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