God's People Have "Compassion" for Marijuana

Religious leaderes want to allow medical marijuana out of 'mercy and compassion'

By MATT BARTOSIK

Updated 10:39 AM CST, Wed, Apr 29, 2009

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God's people are saying yes to medical marijuana.

More than 60 religious leaders in Illinois are now asking the Illinois Senate to pass a bill that would allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

"Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy and compassion," Rev. Bill Pyatt of the First United Methodist Church of Carthage told the Tribune. "We pray that the Illinois legislature will have the compassion to stop this war on patients."

The Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that organizes religious leaders around drug policy reform based on principles of compassion and morality. They come from a wide range of faiths, including Judaism, Methodism, Baptist, and Catholicism.

IDPI executive director Charles Thomas hopes that the backing from religious leaders "will reassure the legislators. And for those who are on the fence or maybe somewhat opposed, you might finally get them to stop and think about it—to open up their minds to it a little bit and not just kind of flinch away." (Sun-Times)

Religious proponents are relying on studies that suggest that marijuana can effectively treat nausea, vomiting, PMS, unintentional weight loss, and lack of appetite. The drug has also been known to treat nerve tissue pain, movement disorders, asthma, and glaucoma.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.

In fact, a National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2006 showed 14.8 million Americans age 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed.

Thirteen states already have legalized the medical use of marijuana, and roughly 80 percent of Americans support national legalization of medical cannabis.

"Jesus lived his life healing those where he could," said Rev. Al Sharp, executive director of Chicago-based Protestants for the Common Good. "This is entirely consistent with that."

If passed, the legislation would create a three-year program in which eligible patients would have to get their doctors' permission before getting medical marijuana, and that prescription would have to be approved by the state. Patients would also receive registry identification cards from the Department of Public Health.

Matt Bartosik is the editor of Off the Rocks' next issue and a "between blogs" blogger.