Springfield, IL: Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation on Friday amending the state's marijuana possession penalties.
Senate Bill 2228 reduces the penalties for the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor (formerly punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,500 fine) to a civil fine of no more than $200 - no arrest and no criminal record.
It also decriminalizes related offenses involving the possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
Senate Bill 2228 also amends the state's zero tolerance per se traffic safety law, stating that the presence of THC in blood at levels below 5ng/ml "shall not give rise to any presumption that the person was or was not under the influence of cannabis."
According to the ACLU, Illinois police arrest some 50,000 individuals annually for marijuana possession offenses. It ranks fifth in the nation in per capita marijuana possession arrests.
Illinois is the third largest state to decriminalize minor marijuana possession offenses.
Study: Prevalence Of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Not Influencing Current Youth Use Patterns
San Diego, CA: The availability of medical marijuana dispensaries is not positively associated with an increase in the number of adolescents currently using cannabis, according to data published online ahead of print in the journal Preventive Medicine.
An investigator at the University of California, San Diego assessed the association between marijuana dispensaries and cannabis use habits among young people residing within a 25-mile radius. The author reported that adolescents' proximity to dispensaries did not influence their current marijuana use habits.
The study concluded: "[W]e did not find empirical evidence showing the availability of medical marijuana dispensaries is associated with [the] current use of marijuana among adolescents. ... It is also suggestive that the dispensaries may not have spillover effects on neighborhood social norms or marijuana availability overall."
Numerous prior studies have failed to associate changes in the legal status of medical cannabis with any causal upticks in youth marijuana use.
Full text of the study, "The availability of medical marijuana dispensaries and adolescent marijuana use," appears in Preventive Medicine.
Study: More Young People Perceive Marijuana To Be Harmful Following Passage Of Medical Cannabis Laws
New York, NY: The enactment of medical marijuana laws is associated with an increase in the percentage of 8th graders perceiving the substance to be harmful, according to survey data published online ahead of print in the journal Addiction.
A team of investigators from Columbia University, the University of California at Davis, the University of Michigan, and Boston University evaluated whether students' perceptions of marijuana had changed following the legalization of medical cannabis in their states.
Authors reported that the passage of medical cannabis laws was associated with an increase in the perceived harmfulness of marijuana among 8th graders, as well as a significant decline in their self-reported use of the substance. A similar change in the perception of cannabis was not observed in older adolescents.
Investigators concluded: "[A]mong 8th grade students, in states with MML (medical marijuana laws) compared to those without, perceived harmfulness increased after MML were passed, a result contrary to the overall national time trend. These findings indicate that in a national landscape of decreasing perceived harmfulness, young adolescents in states that pass MML have a lower overall decrease in perceived harmfulness than adolescents in states without MML. Given that perceived harmfulness of marijuana is strongly associated with less use of marijuana, this indicates that over time, young adolescents in MML states could be expected to be less likely to use marijuana than adolescents in those states pre-passage."
Separate data published in 2015 in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse similarly determined that the proportion of young adolescents who report that they strongly disapprove of marijuana use has risen over the past decade.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director. Full text of the study, "Medical marijuana laws, marijuana use and perceived harmfulness: 1991-2014," appears in Addiction.
Minnesota: Pain Patients Now Eligible For Medical Marijuana Products
Saint Paul, MN: Intractable pain patients are now eligible to participate in the state's medical cannabis program, following legal changes that took effect this week.
State health officials announced their intent to expand the program to include chronic pain patients late last year. The law defines 'intractable pain' as a health condition "in which the cause of the pain cannot be removed or otherwise treated with the consent of the patient and in which, in the generally accepted course of medical practice, no relief or cure of the cause of the pain is possible, or none has been found after reasonable efforts."
As passed in 2014, the law prohibited chronic pain patients from accessing medical cannabis products. The program permits no more than two state-licensed medical manufacturers of cannabis and eight dispensaries, which are only permitted to provide oils, pills, and/or extracts prepared from the plant.
