McHenry County Blog

An ordinance that would have changed possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor offense to a petty offense evidenced by a ticket was removed from the table and then from a future agenda in its presented form.

No one disagreed that the issue should start from scratch with the new Police Chief, who will be sworn in in early January.

After the meeting, retiring Chief Dave Linder indicated that he didn’t mind. He said minor cannabis charges were being thrown out by judges and he presented the issue because it was on the leading edge of law enforcement.

Because the vote was 7-0 to kill the proposed ordinance, no hint was given at how the tie-breaker, newcomer Cameron Hubbard felt on the issue.

He replaced Carolyn Schofield, who favored the proposal.

See details on what other towns do here.

Cameron Hubbard was appointed to replace Carolyn Schofield when Schofield moved on to the McHenry County Board.

Now, at one of his first meetings, the newcomer will be faced with a vote to de-criminalize marijuana.

The agenda item is way down at the bottom, item number 20 out of 24.

Linder’s staff looked at other communities and found the following:

The amount of pot that Downers Grove, the town from whence Lindner’s replacement, Deputy Chief James R. Black now serves, allows 30 grams to be treated as a ticket offense, rather than a criminal offense.  Chicago’s figure is 10 grams.

The minimum fine under the proposed Crystal Lake ordinance would be $500.

If there were a number of tickets issued in 2013 similar to the arrests in 2011, the city would get $25,000 in new revenue.

Up popped an email from State Rep. Mike Tryon tonight.  Take a read and then take his poll:

Dear Friend,

I am hoping you will take a few minutes to participate in a survey, so I can better represent you in Springfield.

To date, 14 states have enacted laws that allow for the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Legislation is pending in the Illinois House (House Bill 30) right now that would create a three-year pilot program for the compassionate use of medical cannabis (marijuana).

The bill would provide that when a person has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition, and after a second opinion has been received that is in concurrence, the person and the person’s primary caregiver may be issued a registry identification card by the Department of Public Health.

The card would allow the ill individual to possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable cannabis during any 14-day period for use to alleviate the patient’s debilitating medical condition or symptoms associating with the debilitating medical condition.

Whereas some states that allow the medical use of canabis have loose requirements for who may use it, the Illinois bill provides strict restrictions for who may be considered a viable candidate for using medical canabis.

The following medical conditions are included in the list of debilitating conditions in HB 30:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV
• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
• Hepatitis C
• Multiple sclerosis
• Crohn’s disease
• The Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease

The bill includes a provision that would allow for the possession of a greater amount if the physicians deem that a greater amount would be needed to alleviate the condition or symptoms.

The Department of Public Health would serve as the enforcement and regulatory agency, and distribution of the medical cannabis would be limited to non-profit medical cannabis organizations (MCO), which would be registered with the State and limited to one MCO per Illinois Senate District (maximum of 59 distributors in Illinois).

Users of medical cannabis would not be allowed to drive a vehicle within six hours of using medical cannabis.

The Department of Public Health would have to submit a report annually to the General Assembly that would disclose the number of patients who utilized medical cannabis, the number of patients who applied for renewals for identification cards, the nature of the conditions that led to the issuance of cards and the number of registered nonprofit MCOs.

The following organizations have stated their support for HB30:

• Marijuana Policy Project
• AIDS Foundation of Chicago
• Illinois Nurses Association
• Protestants for the Common Good
• ACLU of Illinois
• National Association to Reform Marijuana Laws

The following organizations have stated their opposition to HB30:

• Chiefs of Police
• Illinois Sheriff’s Association
• Illinois Family Institute
• Illinois Police Association
• Concerned Christian Americans
• Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association
• Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems

Again, I hope you will participate in the survey. I will compile this data early next week, so your prompt participation is appreciated. By clicking on the link below, you will enter the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QDKNQSV

Sincerely,

Michael W. Tryon
State Representative – District 64

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Optometrist State Rep. Joe Ebbesen (R-DeKalb) passed a bill to allow the use of marijuana to treat glaucoma in the 1970′s.

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Unlike most polls, one cannot discover the results after voting.