Mother urges Quinn to act on medical marijuana

CHICAGO (AP) - A suburban Chicago woman whose son has a rare form of epilepsy was among those urging Gov. Pat Quinn over the weekend to issue licenses for medical marijuana businesses before he leaves office Monday.

Maria Rabadan's 9-year-old son, Jancarlo, suffers seizures and traditional medicines haven't worked. She wants him to be able to try a form of marijuana that isn't smoked and doesn't produce the high typically associated with the drug. Marijuana is now legal in Illinois for adults and children with certain illnesses, but until licenses are awarded to those looking to get into the business, it can't be grown, sold or used.

"He has the power in his hands," Rabadan said of the governor during an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/1xV0Yjk ). "We ask that he has compassion for the kids."

Quinn's administration had promised to settle the matter by the end of 2014, but missed that deadline. The Chicago Democrat could leave the decision to the next governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, but that could lead to further delays.

Quinn told The Associated Press on Friday that licenses will only be issued when it can be done right. He said he instructed the two state agencies involved "that they have - not me - they have to do it right. Frankly to take as much time as necessary to do it right in interpreting a complicated law."

The law that authorized a four-year medical marijuana pilot program has been in effect for a year. Delays in awarding business licenses hold up the planting and harvesting of the first legal crop. More than 650 patients have paid $100 for a medical marijuana card they can't yet use.

That leaves Rabadan, of Mount Prospect, and others waiting anxiously.

She stood with the governor in 2013 as Quinn signed the medical marijuana bill into law, and recalls it as "a day of such hope for our family." She planned to join a group of patients Saturday at an event to press Quinn to act on the licenses.

Her son has Dravet syndrome. His last seizure was Dec. 30. They can be severe and lately last around 5 minutes.

"It's our only hope," she says of the drug.

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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://www.suntimes.com/index