November 30, 2010. We, caretakers and patients, gathered at the state capital to witness history. Our medical cannabis bill was being called up for a vote. It was heart wrenching to watch as one by one called us dope heads, saying we are making excuses to get cannabis legalization, saying there is no evidence that cannabis works for the sick and a host of other lies. We listened as some reps heckled our sponsor "Where's your hemp necklace?" and "This is just a cannabis possession bill" among other things. We failed to get the votes we needed, 7 short when it was all said and done.

However, we were able to postpone the bill for further consideration in January. It's lame duck session so we can only hope those that do show up will vote yes. Our sponsor tells me he only needs two more votes. We are working hard to get those. I have my rep helping us as well and he was a no for so long.

Wish us luck! I wrote an article that was published in the State Journal Register. You can find it here: http://www.sj-r.com/letters/x1817611...l-embarrassing My intent was to expose how embarrassing their behavior that day was but to also get attention on what medical cannabis does for some of our sick. Please feel free to comment on the article. We have 54 comments so far and it is refreshing to see so many on board for our bill. The article is published in Springfield IL so many reps see the paper. My hope is that they will read the article and step back and realize our bill is one of the strictest in all states that are legal.

Our own Jim was introduced during the debate as well and can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwm2_wdq0Jw&sns=fb

Thanks! Will update as soon as I hear from our sponsor on when the bill will be called back up. If you live in Illinois please call your reps and tell them you want them to vote yes on our bill, SB 1381.