Cannabis hearing drew little respect

My husband and I were at the state capitol Nov. 30 during the medical cannabis debate for SB 1381. While normally I have a deep respect for our lawmakers, that day representatives of our state made us feel like criminals.

One representative, who happens to also be a pharmacist, said medical cannabis is addictive. Another representative was very insulting to the patients and claimed medical cannabis was “dope” and our bill was nothing more than a tactic for marijuana possession. Other representatives also stood up, but none as insulting as the two mentioned above.

During the debate, representatives were talking, laughing and not even listening. How can one make an informed decision if they are not even listening? I suspect because they had their minds made up long before the debate.

We had a young lady with us, the daughter of a patient, who said House members acted like schoolchildren at recess. That in itself is embarrassing. It is unfortunate that many of these representatives failed to read the bill. These patients are in pain, they are suffering horrendous battles in their daily lives. My husband is one of those patients and suffers from MS.

Many talked of cannabis being a gateway drug. Cannabis is their gateway off narcotics. What happened in the capital that day was embarrassing and an injustice to the people of Illinois.

Sandy Champion

Somonauk