#illinois

Illinois Sheriff Passes Off Japanese Candy As Marijuana-Infused Halloween Treat

(Reason) On Monday the Bureau County, Illinois, sheriff’s office issued a press release describing “an incident following Trick or Treat” in which “parents came forward with suspicious looking candy marked as Crunch Choco Bar,” the wrapper of which “has small pictures of cannabis leaves on it.” According to Bureau County Sheriff James Reed, “the substance was field tested and was positive for containing cannabis.” The press release closed by urging parents (as always!) to be vigilant against tainted or sabotaged Halloween treats and asking for information about “which residence provided this candy,” which supposedly was handed out in Manlius, a tiny town northwest of Princeton, the Bureau County seat.

Is this the long-awaited evidence that malevolent strangers really are trying to get your kids highby slipping marijuana edibles into their trick-or-treat bags? Nope. As an eagle-eyed blogger pointed out at Dankspace.com, the picture accompanying Reed’s press release shows Japanese candy bars sold under the brand name Iroha Kaede, which is a kind of maple tree. That’s right: Those “small pictures of cannabis leaves” are actually small pictures of maple leaves. If the candy bar really did come up “positive for containing cannabis” in a field test, that just shows how unreliable such tests are.

Iroha KaedeAlthough a Google search for “Crunch Choco Bar” would have quickly revealed this story as unfounded, several local news outlets, including WQAD (an ABC affiliate), the Dispatch-Argus, and the Bureau County Republican, credulously passed it along. In addition to the fact that Sheriff Reed’s photo of cannabis candy does not actually show cannabis candy, several things should have given reporters pause.

Illinoisians spent $2.9 million on medical marijuana products in July

(ChicagoTribune) Illinois officials posted new forms this week for doctors and patients in the state’s medical marijuana program to reflect changes in the law, and announced Wednesday that July retail sales reached a new high at $2.9 million.

Sales of medical marijuana in Illinois have climbed steadily since purchasing began Nov. 9. June sales had been $2.57 million.

Illinois now has nearly 8,891 qualified medical marijuana patients and 40 registered dispensaries, according to the program’s monthly update. July’s figures bring the total retail sales of marijuana in Illinois to $16.3 million since the program launched.

Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation last month extending the pilot program until July 2020 and adding two qualifying health conditions — post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illnesses. Those changes are expected to further drive growth in the program, but won’t be reflected in retail sales until next month.

Illinois Becomes 21st State To Decriminalize Marijuana

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WeedBlog) — Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill into law Friday that removes criminal penalties for possession of a personal amount of marijuana and replaces them with a civil fine. The new law is effective immediately.

SB 2228, introduced by Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), makes possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana a civil violation punishable by a fine of $100-$200. With its enactment, adults no longer face time in jail, and the civil offense will be automatically expunged in order to prevent a permanent criminal record. The new law largely mirrors legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who also sponsored this year’s bill, and reflects amendments Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed when he vetoed a similar bill last year.

Previously in Illinois, possession of up to 2.5 grams of marijuana was a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500; possession of 2.5-10 grams was a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500. More than 100 Illinois communities had already removed local criminal penalties for simple marijuana possession.

Illinois is now the 21st state in the nation, in addition to the District of Columbia, to remove the threat of jail time for simple marijuana possession.

Illinois medical marijuana director resigns

CHICAGO (AP) — An attorney appointed last year by Gov. Bruce Rauner to lead the Illinois medical marijuana program has resigned to pursue work in the private sector.

Joseph Wright, 32, who was in the position for just over one year, told The Associated Press on Monday he felt the time was right to seek other opportunities, possibly in the medical cannabis industry.

A spokeswoman for the governor confirmed the resignation Monday. Spokeswoman Catherine Kelly told the AP the governor’s office “will have no further comment” on the reasons for the resignation.

Wright, who resigned Friday, was paid $53,770 last year, according to a public database of state employee salaries. He will be replaced by Jack Campbell, the program’s bureau chief in the Department of Agriculture, Kelly said.

Campbell, 51, the incoming program director, has a background in law enforcement. In 2014, he lost a GOP primary election for Sangamon County sheriff. He continued working as a sergeant for the county until retiring in early January. His state medical marijuana job began last summer under a contract that paid him $45 an hour.

The program’s first director, Bob Morgan, called the leadership change “positive news for patients.”

“Joe moved the implementation of the program through some difficult phases including the first sales of cannabis to patients,” Morgan said. Campbell, the incoming director, “has a strong reputation for how he has engaged with (marijuana) cultivation centers” during inspections.

If Wright lands a job in the medical marijuana industry, he will be following in Morgan’s footsteps. Morgan, appointed by former Gov. Pat Quinn, now advises clients in the marijuana industry, writes “Pot Czar Blog” and is president of the Illinois Cannabis Bar Association. Illinois’ ethics law for state employees could affect what positions Wright would be able to take. The “revolving door” provisions of the Ethics Act are meant to reduce former state workers from undue influence over lucrative contracts.

The change in leaders comes as Rauner considers signing a bill to extend the pilot program by 2½ years and adding post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illness to the list of qualifying conditions. Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang announced last month that he, the Republican governor and the GOP’s House leader agreed to extend Illinois’ four-year pilot program until July 2020.

Rauner likely to OK marijuana decriminalization bill

(SunTimes) Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday said he’d “probably be comfortable” with a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The bill, approved by a 64-50 vote by the Illinois House on Wednesday, would ensure no one in Illinois could be criminally charged for possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana. The Senate passed the measure in April with a 40-14 vote.

Marijuana extract reduced seizures in kids with epilepsy: Lurie study

(ChicagoTribune) Marijuana extract significantly reduced seizures in severely epileptic children, according to a landmark study conducted in part at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Supporters said the results greatly improve the chances for the drug, called Epidiolex, to win eventual approval by federal regulators for prescription use to treat Dravet syndrome, a debilitating type of epilepsy that strikes in early childhood. The drug would be the first derived from the marijuana plant to win such approval.

More broadly, the findings also support claims made by advocates of medical marijuana, but represent a much more controlled and limited use of the plant.

Children with Dravet syndrome typically have frequent seizures that cause problems with language, motor skills and relating to others. In the case of one patient in the trial at Lurie, 5-year-old Caleb Yunk, the disease has not been as severe but caused chronic seizures that led to difficulties with skills such as running, jumping and balancing.

In the trial, Caleb swallowed about 3 milligrams of a strawberry-flavored syrup twice a day. Once he started treatment, his parents said, the Milwaukee-area boy went 100 days without a seizure, and those he did have lasted less than half as long. Because Caleb’s seizures can be triggered by overheating, his parents had kept him indoors on hot days but on the drug, he showed enough progress to go swimming with his friends.

Caleb Yunk, 5, is held by his mother, Kelley as she makes dinner for Caleb on March 29, 2016, in Germantown, Wisc. Caleb was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome and is presently using a medication called Epidiolex, which is a purified, liquid cannabinoid. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

“His eyes sparkle more,” said his mother, Kelley Yunk. “He’s more engaged. I think he’s more cheerful. For our family, it was such a huge blessing.”

Much of the improvement came from being able to take Caleb off another drug and reduce his use of two others — medication that has serious side effects and made him “dopey,” his parents said. Side effects seen during the Epidiolex trial included sleepiness, diarrhea and decreased appetite but were mostly mild or moderate, according to the manufacturer’s reported results.

Epidiolex is almost pure cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana, without the THC component that gets users high.

The study at Lurie was part of a nationwide clinical trial conducted by the drug’s maker, GW Pharmaceuticals. While a preliminary study also produced encouraging results, the company said this was the first trial of plant-based CBD involving a randomized, double-blind placebo control, known as the gold standard of disease research.

Double-blind means neither the patient nor the researchers know whether the patient is getting the drug or a placebo, in this case a similar liquid that doesn’t contain any medicine, to avoid results being biased by optimistic interpretations.

The study involved about 120 patients, aged 2 to 18, who have Dravet syndrome and whose seizures were resistant to existing medications. Among patients who received the drug, convulsive seizures were reduced by an average of 39 percent, compared to 19 percent for the placebo, over 14 weeks last summer, according to results announced in March.

Officials are hopeful that this will speed up approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make Epidiolex available by prescription.

Illinois declines to expand medical marijuana conditions list

(ChicagoTribune) Illinois will not expand the list of conditions that qualifies people to get medical marijuana, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration announced Friday.

The announcement came despite pleas from patient advocates and medical marijuana business owners who say they need more patients to make the industry viable in the state. So far, only about 4,000 people have been approved to use the drug, far below early estimates.

The decision was announced by the Illinois Department of Public Health’s director, Dr. Nirav Shah.

Melaney Arnold, department spokeswoman, said the program “remains in its early stage.”

“As patients have just started purchasing medical cannabis, the State has not had the opportunity to evaluate the benefits and costs of the pilot program or determine areas for improvement or even whether to extend the program beyond its pilot period,” she said in an email. “At this time, it is premature to expand the pilot program before there is the ability to evaluate it under the current statutory requirements.”