Hows that old line go, pass the pot but raise the tax? A buck on cigarettes, should be able to tax the hell out of pot.
But what are the Drug dealers going to say?? Maybe they can open dispensaries, Perhaps a special work program set up with stimulus funds? Lets not forget TIF funds, what a great idea for the empty deerfield mall? Like an orchard, a pick your own concept, with a tax paid at the door like the tollway. Send this idea to Gov. Quinn, maybe he can use this idea to keep business in Illinois, if everyone were high they wouldn't care about the high cost of everything.

The question is .......why shouldnt it be legal?

I'd like to hear comments from the people who are against legalization.

I'll provide an opposing comment, although I really don't care either way on the pot front. But making it legal for medicinal is only a stones throw away from making it legal all around. If/when that happens I can see it being regulated somewhat like alcohol. Which then opens up problems such as driving will stoned, working and (although i know it happens readily as it is) use by minors. Also, when things are made legal, you will get people doing it who wouldn't have done so before because they used to fear the repercussions of the law. You will still have dealers selling or growing their own, and in order to make money, they will lace it to make it more potent or effectively dangerous for people who can't get it legally.

I know that is taking the slippery slope approach since this was just about medical marijuana and not full on legalization, but it's not a reach can see how something like that could occur.

Holland's emergence as the drug capital of Europe is not due solely to the decision by the Dutch government to commercialize the sale of cannabis products in the nation's now-famous coffee shops.  But many Europeans believe it is the consequence of the tolerant attitude toward drugs that grew out of that policy.  That attitude, defined by Dutch foes of the policy as the "coffee-shop mentality," now permeates Holland's criminal justice system.

Didn't think about the "Dutch connection" THAT would solve all Illinois problems, Taxes for everything especially the new pot industry. Start tearing up streets to build canals, Union road companies are happy, new jobs for Canal boat operators! Win, Win, Win! Go Quinn, Go!
The Illinois state slogan can be "We're the Amsterdam of the West"! Oh ya, don't forget the new airline passenger tax, make sure we get em coming and going too!

People that want to smoke pot all ready do. Theres always someone out there selling it. You can get it if you want to. If I could vote on it, I would say no.

The price of marijuana is typically used in economics textbooks ass an example of an inelastic good. When price goes down, demand stays the same. When price goes up the demand stays the same. This applies to the monetary price and the social price. Which indicates that even if we lowered the social price (jail/fines/etc.) the use would not drastically increase.

Medical grade marijuana is a god send for those suffering from certain medical conditions like cancer, glaucoma, chronic daily migraine and in many cases brings pain levels down by 50% and removing the nauseousness cause by chemo therapy and certain drugs. It's criminal to deny these patients the relief they need. It's scary for older people to try to find a 'dealer' and know that the supply isn't tainted with something else not to mention making them criminals for doing it. It needs to change now.

More people die every single day due to cigarettes alone, not to mention alcohol related deaths but, both are legal with laws and regulations. It's so funny to me all the people who don't do it and their idiotic comments about how everyone's who does is a burnout and would be getting unemployment so they could sit around and smoke weed all day. I ask those people this; do you have a glass of wine in the evening? Maybe a few? Or how about the anti-depressants that you chew up like skittles. It's no different. If there was a poll that asked very simply, do you smoke weed? I would bet that a higher percentage does than doesn't. Go talk to people who can't find pain relief except in marijuana. Are you strong enough to walk around it pain every single day of your life? Who are they hurting by getting a little relief? Because don't forget when your posting your comments that this is a question on Medical use not recreational.

Ok Jeramie, you brought up a good point. So, for medical reasons only, I would say legalize it. I have never bought pot, never rolled a joint. Smoked a few though in my life, 25 years ago. If I needed to reduce pain, I would want the right to be able to get it safely. When buying it off the street, you have no idea what you are getting.

Oh what the heck. Jewel is uncorking for a fee...and allowing you to take the bottle home. After you'ce had a few?!Starbucks serving Irish coffees.. Can you get one at the drive thru?! So you legalize pot. The Illinois government makes a few bucks, probably going to put it into drug rehab right?, makes sense...just like the money raised in the lottery was going to the schools. This will be interesting. And it is going to happen. The fact The Patch is putting it out there is just the precursor.

Oh Geez, It's not at all about personal behavior, medicinal needs, or the do's and don'ts or societies ills.
It's all about how to fix the states money problems. Since America is again becoming an agrarian society, (we certainly don't seem to make much anymore) what better cash crop than pot?
It's about the only thing we seem good at, growing stuff! America is the largest producer of tobacco products, so why not pot too. Regulate it, tax it to the hilt.
State finances fixed!

Bring yours to the local farmers market on Sunday mornings. Just make sure you pay your tax! The problem is regulation and just like the Moonshiners, the issue is tax revenues not being paid, not the production or consumption of questionably produced alcohol.

As a parent watching her 33 year old son slowly deteriorate and in terrible pain, I can tell you from personal opinion. I long for the legalization of medical marijuana. My son doesn't tolerate standard pain meds. Even I would like to try it for the severe anxiety I have from months of sleepless nights spent grieving by a hospital bed. I do not know any drug dealers and would be afraid to meet that type of person or trust them. Previously I would never have voted for legalization of marijuana but I have changed my tune now that I have walked so many miles in the shoes of my only son!!! If you were watching your adult child suffer day after day you too would be pleading for the legalization of MEDICAL marijuana!!!

Now heading back to the hospital to another long emotional day. I wonder if I will have a nervous breakdown.

Craig, I felt the same way you do for many years until now when I am at my wits end. I should have been at the hospital hours ago. I left last night at 3:00 am. I am having such a hard time getting in my car to go back to watch yet amother day of intense suffering. I know my son needs me but the pain of watching your own child in horrible pain is almost more than I can bear. Please do not judge of this experience has not been laid upon your table. When meds cant control the intense pain of your loved one I promise you. You will be willing to try anything that might help.

Cannabis needs to be legalized for the same reason prohibition needed to be repealed: stop the insanity of making normally law-abiding, fellow citizens into criminals. Conservatives continue to rail against big government, yet they want to impose their own personal morality on everyone else, ironically using government to do so. They have and ALWAYS will be on the wrong side of history

Make it legal. It will create more jobs. (The catch phrase of this election cycle)

Just think Evanston finstead of financing "BARS" could finance Pot and and coffee places

For medical reasons, it should be legalized. My brother had cancer and he lived 8 years after he was told he only had 6 months. Therefore, I have no objections to allowing patients to get if needed.

The United States has 5% of the worlds population and 25% of the world's prisoners. It costs an average of $60,000 a year to house a prisoner. Decriminalization will take place as the States begin to realize how much it's costing us. State houses are already finding ways to end some of the mandatory sentences. show the right wing how we are spending $60,000 to house an 18 year old inner city youth and they will pretty quickly realize its much less expensive to educate. End the safety nets?
End entitlements? Once again the right can't see the forest for the trees. They continue to want to throw away the keys for 'law breakers' all while they arm the George Zimmerman's of the country. It's costing us lives, and money. Decriminalization will save money. Where would you rather educate our youth? Prison or schools?

Not sure why my comment is on the Palatine Patch

Santayana said; "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Hemp is a plant with many uses, not the most important of which is the canabinol produced in the resin. If you look into the history of hemp in the US, you will see that it played a large role in our economic growth, (the fibers make great rope, cloth and paper), and Founding Fathers such as Washington and Jefferson grew the plant as a cash crop, (probably toked up a bit too, but that was not the basis for the crop).

The basis for the ban was economic since Wm Randolph Hearst, (a newspaper mogul), also owned forest land and paper mills. Cheap hemp paper, (which is actually better than wood pulp paper), was a financial threat to him, so, using his considerable political influence, (and his newspapers ability to "guide" public opinion), convinced Congress of the "evils" of "Marijuana", (t was labeled with the Mexican name to associate it with what was considered to be an "undesirable" element).

To quote from Gilbert and Sullivan's Makado; "Things are seldom as they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream."

I've said it before & I'll say it again:
The War on Drugs as a business model is not working.
The problem:
The drug industry is untaxed, unregulated, and uncontrolled except by criminals both here and abroad. It is the linchpin of a multi-billion dollar shadow economy that funds a whole slew of minor players from prostitution rings to money-launderers to purveyors of stolen weapons.
The remedy:
I do not "do" drugs and I abhor their abuse. Nevertheless, I would like to see all illicit drugs legalized. It is only in so doing that we will be able to control their use, address their abuse, and rid ourselves of the stranglehold gangbangers and criminals have on our society.
Start with marijuana. Legalize it. Grow it here. Sell licenses to growers and distributors. Arrest those who are growing or distributing without said licenses and charge them with tax evasion. Collect a tax at point of sale, as is done for liquor and cigarettes. Collect income taxes from growers and sellers. Bingo! All of our State’s financial problems are solved!
Legalizing Marijuana will not make one more dope fiend than we already have. Remember, people still drank during Prohibition. At the end of the day, it boils down to a question of keeping our neighborhoods safe and our national borders secure—it is no secret that the billions generated by the illegal drug industry help fund terrorist groups abroad and gun-toting gangsters here at home.
Legalize it. The time has come.

No. It should be illegal.

It amazes me that some of you actually think that we are safer as a society with marijuana kept illegal?? Making something illegal, does nothing but create a black market for that particular item. With it comes the crime, violence and undesirable characters associated with things being "illegal".

As long as there is a demand for pot, threre will ALWAYS be someone willing to do whatever it takes to reap the huge profits. Prohibition created the likes of Al Capone. Since prohibition was repealed, when was the last time you heard of gangsters fighting over a truckload of whiskey? Pot has been around as long as time itself and for those whose experience is limited to a few episodes of TJ Hooker, marijuana is a plant! It grows naturally, with no help from man, although like you're tomatoes, there are always things that can be done to enhance the size and quality of the harvest. It is also almost never "laced" with other chemicals, as another poster suggested (another TJ Hooker myth).

People smoke it every day! Some smoke at work and yes some smoke and drive. People who drink and drive could care less if it's legal or not and should be punished regardless of what they're high on. Also I would argue that there are far more people out there driving with altered realities due to Prozac, Zanex, Cymbalta, Paxil, Zoloft, Vicoden, Oxycontin, Percoset....all completely legal, man made chemicals. The big difference, prescribed by doctors and profits in the BILLIONS to big pharma!

If pot should be illegal then so should cigarettes, cigars, beer, hard alcohol and wine. Make it all illegal. Cigarettes give you a buzz, I see people smokin n driving all day long. 1-2 beers can impare a driver, what's the difference? Still waiting for good argument about why tabacco n booze are ok but pots not! Anybody???

I finally made it to the hospital. Just so you know I am extremely conservative and anti government intervention into private lives. Yet, I am for the legalization of marijuana. It isn't just conservative people causing the road blocks. People in general are afraid of the unknown consequences of adding yet another legal vice loose upon society. These people do have real concerns. However, the benefits of legalization are so abundant that holding back legalization based on what "might" happen is unfair to those in need.

#Susan
Just a short prayer for your son and for you to maintain strength to be there for him in his time of need. It is always difficult to stand helpless when a loved one is in pain.

I agree with the person who said legalizing medicinal marijuana is only a stone's through from total legalization. We already have too many people driving under the influence of alcohol, so if there is total legalization of marijuana then there would tons more people driving under the influence.

However, I do agree with legalizing medicinal marijuana. Although my cancer surgery was 4 years ago and legalizing MM won't do me any good now, at least others who need it will be able to get it. Then we can tax the heck out of it so some of our state's debt can be reduced.

But somewhere in the back of my mind I see Cheech and Chong opening a head shop in the BG Town Center. LOL!!

Hell yeah! It should be legal, period. If pot growing was controlled and pot could be distributed under controlled cirumstances (like nicotine) it would be free of the additives that are the riskiest part of pot smoking currently, and would be even more safe than nicotine and alcohol in terms of damaging effects to your health. It could also be used as a treatment for more than just pain control, such as helping to control anxiety and other symptoms of mental illness.

Ethical pharmaceutical products are available by prescription only. If medical marijuana is made legal, it should available by prescription, as other drugs are.

The arguments against legalization pale in comparison to the arguments for legalization of marijuana. Regardless of legal status, I won't smoke anything unless my life depended on it. I suspect many adults feel the same way. We need to send a clear message to Congress.

I can smell it in the air already. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

If the results of this "non scientific poll" are any indication of the general publics opinion on this matter, it's obvious that as usual politicians are not doing the will of the people!!

Has anyone ever noticed the multitude of warnings on drug commercials or ads in the magazines? The amount of time it takes to explain the side effects is longer and more prominent than what the drug itself can do for you. A drug, no less, that is a derivative of something else. Medical marijuana is as natural as it can get. It is used to assist helping people to feel better without all the harmful side effects that some other drugs on the market produce. It is the drug companies and those in their pockets that we have to blame for not using medical marijuana as a viable option in healthcare.

Legalize it once and for all. It is not the gateway drug as people say. Most young kids start with alcohol and move on to stronger things!

Legalize it, and tax it ... we could solve this country's money problems once and for all with the tax revenues from a freaking PLANT, for gosh sakes !!!!

How much money does it cost for the courts, cops, and incarcerations??? Why not legalize it and tax it? Why not take the power away from gangs and national/ international organized crime?! It's a free country!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep the government out of my life on this one!!! Why not make a profit off of this ubiquitous underground industry that isn't going anywhere?!!

I don't care if it's legal or not. However, just because a drug is made legal doesn't mean everyone is going to go out and do it. If heroin was made legal it doesn't mean I'd start doing it.

@Kate: I agree completely! That's why I say, legalize it, and then tax the s$!+ out of it, it would solve tons of money problems in this country, instead of making us pay tax $$ to incarcerate people for a miniscule crime.

Pot is a recreational drug. As for it being a gateway drug, so is alcohol!

legalize marijuana. Make profit from the sale of marijuana. make profit from the increase in jobs. Make profit from the increase in trade in the global economy. Make profit by cutting all spending on the 'war on drugs'. get the USA out of debt. Simple.

Ummm, people? News flash - it already IS legal in Illinois. Subject came up at my dinner table so I googled it. Great article I'm the Reader dated April 8, 2010. Law was passed in 1978. Thing is, it was passed with two catches - dept of human services was allowed to give doctors authority to prescribe, not required to (and they haven't) and DHS could act "only with the written approval of the department of state police." I'm quoting the article when it goes on to say the two departments had to create new policies before medical marijuana could be prescribed, and to this day neither has. So your beef is with the state police, who claims they're waiting for dept. of human services.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/medical-marijuana-pot-illinois-cannabis-control-act-legalization/Content?oid=1629059

Listen to these high ranking narcotics officers expose the harms and waste of the drug war: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMDc

The World Health Organization Documents Failure of U.S. Drug Policies - according to the world's leading substance abuse researchers, the US has the highest rates of marijuana and cocaine use. http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/90295/

Cannabis Reduces Infant Mortality: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june272010/marijuana-infants-sc.php - The "cannabis" infants have a mortality rate almost half of what the "No drugs" infants have!

If you want to know how far the federal government will go to promote its mendacious anti-marijuana message read this:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/03/31/magazines

Protestant, Catholic and Jewish Clergy Speak Out Against The War On Drugs: 
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/clergydvd.htm

Free online book: The Emperor Wears No Clothes:
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter01.html

Here's a documentary about marijuana curing cancer. There are 7 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjhT9282-Tw

If you still doubt that marijuana is good medicine then kindly check out Granny Storm Crow's Amazing MMJ Reference List:
http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/GrannysList-Jan2011.pdf
It’s more like a library than a list!

It's good to hear both sides on this. I'm on the fence about it. Tried pot once, hated it but have seen others benefit medically.

Should be up to us the people of the united states. This is suppost to be the land of the free people choose to drink alcohol. We
should have the choice " the freedom " to smoke marijuana but then they couldn't put that money in their pocket man some people are just plain stupid to think marijuana is bad. Spending all that money on pot is a waste use the money to fight the Meth and cocaine those are the drugs that kill people and make people do stupid shit. NOT MARIJUANA

I think marijuana should be legalized. The government is based on a government that allows the people to vote for their laws, not an oligarchy which in this case are the senators and congress men. There are no drugs that a lab puts in marijuana because its all natural out of mother earth. If a lab enhanced marijuan with all sorts of amphetamines and messed up chemicals found in cocaine, heroin, ciggarettes, alcohol etc. then you can classify it as an illegal and harmfull drug. You cannot possibly overdose on marijuana unless you smoke your own body weight within an hour. There are only a few cases were a person is allergic to marijuana and throws up and gets nauseus. But there are no real harmfull effects, it doesnt lower your lung capacity like ciggs. It doesnt kill your brain like ecstasy. Its dumb that its illegal just because someone says its bad for you when they dont know what there talking about. I am a resident of illinois and i have been smoking marijuana since ive been 16 and i have never experienced any problems with my lungs and i am in the best shape of my life. I am a toned man. please come out to vote every vote counts and we can really change the law if we try.

Of course the people who smoke pot want to legalize it. Duh!! You trying to say marijuana doesn't have a bad side is ridiculous. And one more thing, just because you say its so, doesn't make it so. I have heard this argument for 40 years and you haven't improved your position one iota.

Why all this infernal fuss about "mary-juana," or whatever it is called? It is only "smoked" by those scoundrels playing "jazz" music, anyway.

Where would our fine sailors be if we outlawed the use of hemp for their steamships' many lanyards and cords?

What we MUST banish, however, is the fruit of the vine, the Dutchman's courage, the White Man's burden, that foul quaff'd Nepenthe -- Alcohol!

So, follow me, lads, in supporting Andy Volstead, Ms. Frances Willard, Pussyfoot Johnson, Ernest Cherrington, and their ilk.

Three cheers for the 18th Amendment! A terminus to crime, squalor, drunkenness, and sloth will it surely deliver!

Oliver P. Sir...you are a hoot !!! I totally enjoy all your comments in the various threads. Keep 'em coming....they keep me smiling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPoZX7ILfwc

Make sure you watch until you see the "credits" at the end ;)

on my own opinion...being from a legalized medicinal state ( keep in mind i found this site by accident in the pure intention of finding information on my own state) and having my medical card it hlps alot i wrk 10 plus hrs every day and pay my taxes but with my symptoms its a better drug than any other form of drug i have used which include zoloft, lithium, buspar, depakote, zanax , or klonipin not including th pain meds....in the end it is a substance nobody is used to. in regards to the goverment leagalizing it, its going to happen regardless of how any one person may feel about it with as many states that have legalized it its just a matter of time. now with that being said this country is always crying about how broke we are and how much we are in debt now you take a substane that has a multi-billion dollar potetial and govermnt sanction it allow the medical users to continue to produce their own now you hae a steady revenue that will eventually take us out of debt assuming the govement can quit buying 60,000 dollar vehicles every yr.and dont say they dont because i work for ford i see the gov. trucks and know how much they cost so in the end its still a way for this country to adapt and grow you worry about abuse?? multiple drugs are abused everyday being illegle doesnt make a difference

on another note if california legalized it for rec. use do you relize the cartles import business just got cut by 30% now you legalize the whole sw the cartel goes broke the only import would be cocain not to mention our prisons population gets cut in half now YOUR TAX MONEY goes to something important instead of feeding inmates in for a stupid plant the goverment outlawed to increase tobacco profits in the 30's

People are always attracted to what they can't have - the forbidden fruit. So, if weed is legalized, it looses its attraction and becomes just another commodity that we can choose to use or not use. The arguments in favor of legalization far outweigh the arguments against legalization. GO WEED!