State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) have spent 2 years developing and promoting their proposal to legalize “recreational” marijuana in Illinois. On May 7th, their 533-page bill (SB 7) was introduced in the Illinois Senate.

Last week the Senate Executive Committee held a 2.5 hour subject matter hearing on this bill, and it was alarming to hear how many concerns and questions they were unable to lay to rest.

Michele Ratini, a social worker from a Leyden High school District 212 in Northlake, testified in opposition to legalization, pointing out that teenagers are not smoking cigarettes anymore, but are instead smoking and vaping tobacco and marijuana. She said she is seeing an increased number of students exhibiting paranoia and psychosis.

Dr. Albert Mensah, who runs the Mensah Medical Center, corroborated her statements. But Illinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), a strong proponent of legalization, thinks that that is the very reason we should legalize, tax and regulate it.

If students are easily getting the high potency stuff now, how much easier will it be for them to get it once it’s legalized?

To give you a reference point to digest the following information, keep in mind that the Woodstock marijuana of the 1960s and 1970s contained 1-3 mg. of THC (what gets you high). And people back then got plenty high. Today’s marijuana contains 20-25 mg. of THC.

A question was raised in the committee hearing: Will expungements of felony convictions for marijuana allow for someone filling out a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) or Conceal Carry form to indicate “No” on whether they have ever been convicted of a felony? (Keep in mind that the vast majority of inmates in prison for possession charges have plea-bargained down from more serious felony crimes.) Illinois Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell, who was representing the governor’s office, answered “Yes.” In other words, convicted felons, whose more serious crime charges were significantly reduced, will have their records automatically expunged.

Also, once you read what the bill will allow, keep in mind that today’s high potency marijuana is directly linked to an increase in mental illness such as psychosis, schizophrenia and violent behavior.

The bill is huge, but here’s a small picture of what SB 7 will do:

• Allow possession of 30 grams of cannabis by anyone 21 and older. By the way, thirty grams is equivalent to 75 joints.

• Allow marijuana-infused edibles containing 500 mg of THC. Colorado limits the THC in edibles to 100 mg.

• Allow possession of 5 grams of concentrates which contain upwards of 99 percent pure THC.

• Allow homes to grow up to 5 plants. One plant can yield ½ lb (226 grams) and can be harvested 4 times per year. Five plants times 4 harvests would yield 10 lbs. or over 11,000 joints. There is absolutely no way to regulate this, per law enforcement who testified. This is why Colorado’s black market is surging.

• Provides $20 million in low-interest loans for “social equity applicants” who have been “disproportionately impacted” by discriminatory drug policies. These are your recently convicted felons. Based on their point system, if you have been convicted of any offense eligible for expungement, you automatically have 25 points.

• Provides a waiver of 50 percent of startup costs for “social equity applicants” who have been “disproportionately impacted” by discriminatory drug policies.

• Identifies disproportionately impacted areas (i.e., minority communities) for dispensary locations.

• Institutes a cannabis purchaser tax (note: it’s the regulations and taxation that cause the black market to thrive by selling it cheaper):

10 percent on cannabis with a THC level at or below 35 percent

20 percent on cannabis infused products

25 percent on cannabis with THC level above 35 percent

3 percent Municipal Purchaser Tax

0.24 percent County Tax

3.5 percent Unincorporated Area Tax

• No marijuana dispensaries or advertising within 1,500 ft of a school, playground, hospital, park, childcare center. (That’s only about 1 ½ blocks, but they could keep it a mile away and kids and teens would still be exposed.)

• Allocation of revenue:

35 percent General Revenue Fund

25 percent Restoring Our Communities Fund (Apparently, once you flood the “disproportionately impacted” communities with more drugs, you throw some money their way. But I digress.)

20 percent Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

10 percent Budget Stabilization Fund (There’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one.)

8 percent Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board

2 percent Drug Treatment Fund for public education and awareness

• Local Ordinances – Municipalities may enact reasonable zoning restrictions pertaining to licensed cultivation centers, craft growers, processing organizations, and dispensaries. (The definition of “reasonable” has not been defined, according to last week’s hearing.)

Major Omission

There are no limits to THC levels in what SB 7 will allow. The Dutch government has walked back their liberal drug policies because of the problems they have encountered with high levels of THC. They now consider 15 percent or higher as a hard drug, alongside opioids and ecstasy. That should tell us how serious and dangerous it is to legalize high potency marijuana as “recreational.”

SB 7, as you can see from the proposed taxation schedule, has no limits. High THC levels are linked to an increase in mental illness, especially psychosis and schizophrenia, as well as being responsible for the increase in hospitalizations and ER visits. SB 7 also allows for concentrates, or extracts, which are sticky substances produced via distillation and containing upward of 99 percent THC.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this video playlist dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Cannabis Myths Exposed

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Some lawmakers are insisting that Illinois can put a pot plan in place that will avoid some of the big problems that today’s high potency marijuana is having in states that have made it legal for recreational use.

“Any change in drug policy should reduce drug use, not increase it,” states Dr. Aaron Weiner, licensed clinical psychologist and Director of Addiction Services at Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville.

Dr. Weiner succinctly details the facts that refute Illinois politicians’ erroneous claims that legal and readily available, high THC concentration marijuana would be “positive for health and community restoration.” He also exposes the real motivation behind liberal legislators’ push for highly addictive, legal weed in Illinois. Please watch this informative short video and share it with your family and friends!

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this video playlist dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Live from last month’s Coachella Valley Music Festival, on April 20, one day before Easter, Craig Gross went public about his new web-based venture. Marijuana laws are loosening nationwide, and he’s launching ChristianCannibas.com to get the church talking about it. He wants the conversation to be larger than matters of legality or distinctions between medicinal vs. recreational use. Mainly, he wants to tell people about the benefits he’s personally experienced since it came into his life.

Best known as the founder of XXXchurch, Gross is more of a ministry entrepreneur than a pastor in the conventional sense, though he does have a BA in Church Ministry and briefly served as a youth pastor. XXXchurch.com is the web-based ministry he created in 2002 to help people overcome sex addictions. He’s written several books about the harmful effects of pornography, and in the spirit of taking the gospel to the people, XXXchurch has given away thousands of “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” Bibles at porn conventions. He lives in Southern California with his wife Jeannette and their two teenagers.

Cannabis: A Green New Test-a-mint?

Like XXXchurch, Christian Cannabis defies simplistic categorization. Gross’s introduction to marijuana traces back to a difficult season following the death of his father, health issues for Jeannette, and a spate of migraines for which doctors could find no physiological cause. One night, he was up watching CNN, when Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s documentary Weed came on. It followed the story of Charlotte, a little girl who’d been suffering debilitating seizures until her mother secured for her a specialized marijuana strain that resulted in near total relief. The specific concoction, high in CBD (cannabidiol – one extract from the plant) and low in THC (tetrahydrocannabinol – the psychoactive constituent of it), has since been named Charlotte’s Web.

The next day, Gross applied for and received his medical marijuana card for $70 and a Skype interview with a doctor. A nonsmoker, he experimented with different methods of ingestion until he landed on a brand of cannabis-infused mint that he thought was perfect for him. It looked and tasted like an Altoid and contained a 5mg “microdose” of THC.

Soon after that, he was at the annual porn show he attends with XXXchurch when he had an experience unlike anything he’d ever had before. “The Lord met me in ways more powerful than I have ever known in my forty-two years on this earth. My head stopped spinning and I heard His voice. I got clarity. I got direction. I got out of my head, and I let God into my heart in a lasting, visceral way.” No longer could he keep these things to himself. Returning home from Vegas, he felt compelled to share the good news.

It helps calm his mind so he can pray, he says, and it’s made him a better dad and husband. His ministries and business ventures are going great, and his health is better in all ways, especially spiritually. He raises his hands in worship, which he never did before, “’cause I was raised Baptist.” “Call me crazy, but that little green cross pointed my eyes toward the real Cross,” he says, referring to the green cross on the MED-a-mints cannister.

Cannabis: Another Gospel?

Gross says Christians should get ahead of, rather than lag behind, the cannabis conversation, and I tend to agree. Here are three questions to frame the discussion:

1.) What is the problem for which marijuana is being put forth as the solution? While Charlotte had been diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of drug-resistant epilepsy, Gross had headaches of no medically discernible origin, along with other symptoms of an admittedly frenzied life. Some cannabis-based pharmaceuticals have been available for years as treatments for medically diagnosable conditions, but Gross effectively medicalizes the difficulties of living in a fallen world and then applies pot as the way to deal with them.

2.) What risks are involved in using marijuana to address this problem? Marijuana is a known mind-impairing, performance-degrading drug, but Gross glosses over this fact as if his own pastoral inclinations have ceased to function. Marijuana Debunked (2015), by addiction psychiatrist Ed Gogek, MD, gives a foreboding overview of this and other risks to societies that normalize its use. Christian charity and the Hippocratic Oath require that we have that conversation too.

And, finally: 3.) Which cross is he recommending Christians embrace as the way to life? The benefits Gross identifies are mostly about his own emotional state . He feels better and therefore assumes he is better, testifying, “That little can of mints ended up changing my life.” But anyone familiar with substance abuse knows that abusers can feel better by dulling the pain. Is his instrument of change really setting him free, or will it end up enslaving him instead? We are warned in Scripture that experience can be misleading, but experiences are the only reasons he’s giving for why we should take up this novel green cross and follow him.

To all appearances, he means well, but for Christians, the conversation should always center on Jesus and the actual cross by which we’re saved. Any larger conversation should be grounded in the original Easter gospel. There will be pain involved, but it promises a better salvation than any little MED-a-mint green cross ever will.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this video playlist dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Abu Edwards, National Director for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, has an impassioned message for Illinois legislators who are pursuing a headlong rush to legalize weed – slow down, or better yet, stop altogether!

Based on personal experience, Edwards describes the devastating impact legalization will have on the already disadvantaged African American community. Additionally, he explains how legalization of millennial marijuana, Edwards’ term for today’s high potency weed, is just a politically correct cover for commercialization and industrialization of a product that specifically targets a market that already struggles with addiction issues.

Please watch and listen to his concerns in this short video:

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this video playlist dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Pastor Gregory Livingston, interim pastor of New Hope Baptist Church on the west side of Chicago, is bold enough to speak the blunt truth (pun intended) about the “hopped-up super weed” that Governor JB Pritzker and the Democrats in Springfield are eager to legalize – or as Livingston states, “weaponized” against disadvantaged communities.

Please watch and listen as Pastor Livingston shines a light on the Pritzker family’s vested interest in the financial success of high potency pot in Illinois. He also dispels the popular myth that the marijuana industry will provide a means for minorities to become successful marijuana distributors and weed shop owners. As is so often the case, it’s really all about the money, and in this case, BIG money – not in tax revenue, but profits for the oligarchs who already have a seat at the high rollers’ table.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this playlist of 16 videos (and growing) dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Once again, high potency marijuana is in the news. Governor J.B. Pritzker and several state lawmakers held a press conference this past Saturday to announce their bill (SB 7) to legalize marijuana for “recreational” use in Illinois. This legislation is sponsored by Illinois Senators Heather Steans (D-Chicago), Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Kimberly Lightford (D-Westchester) and Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago).

Illinois Family Institute continues to present overwhelming evidence of the high costs and consequences of this onerous public policy, and Illinois voters must speak out if we hope to turn the tide on their plans. Many of our friends and neighbors simply do not understand what this policy means for their families, communities, schools, workplace and roadways. If we hope to stop this legislation from becoming law, we must quickly educate and activate parents and grandparents.

It doesn’t take much to turn the tide!

As you are aware, the most extreme abortion legislation to date was introduced in Illinois this year. With a super majority of Leftists in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and an extremely anti-life governor, it appeared to be a slam dunk for abortion activists. But these bills are now stalled! You did that!

Pro-life advocates made calls, visited their lawmakers, wrote letters and sent emails, and urged others to do the same. God used your efforts to push these bills back!

Earlier this year, the push for marijuana legalization in New Jersey fell apart. According to an article in the New York Times:

“[the] effort to legalize marijuana in News Jersey collapsed… after Democrats were unable to muster enough support for the measure, derailing a central campaign pledge by Gov. Philip D. Murphy and leaving the future of the legalization movement in doubt.”

Our goal is to derail the push here in Illinois with strong evidence coupled with strong opposition from concerned citizens like you. We can stop this from becoming law in the Land of Lincoln!

The evidence of harm couldn’t be clearer. This crazy social experiment has been going on for years in Colorado, California and Washington, and the data is extremely alarming. Consider our top 10 reasons to oppose legal weed in Illinois. And please share the linked graphics on your social media pages.

10 Reasons to Oppose High Potency Marijuana Legalization:

1.) Increased THC Levels. It’s Not Your Daddy’s Weed!

The TCH (tetrahydrocannabinol) levels in today’s marijuana products are much higher than the marijuana of the 60’s and 70’s. This high-THC content has been linked to an increase in serious mental health issues and addiction. A recent Cambridge University study found that the use of today’s high-THC products was associated with a higher risk of addiction than lower potency forms of marijuana and that the association was found to be even higher in younger cannabis users.

This includes the alarmingly high THC Content in Concentrates (oil, wax, dab, shatter).

2.) Increased Risk of Psychosis, and even more alarming is Youth Suicide; more here.

Several studies have linked marijuana use to increased risk for psychiatric disorders, including psychosis (schizophrenia), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. A recent study published in the The Lancet Psychiatry shows that consuming pot on a daily basis and especially using high-potency cannabis increases the odds of having a psychotic episode later.

This is also closely related to the homelessness problem that is increasing in Colorado due to the weed. Please also watch and listen to PGM Pastor Phil Kwiatowski‘s concerns in this short video presentation.

3.) Increased Marijuana-Related Hospitalizations and Poison Control Center Calls. 

Dr. Karen Randall, an ER physician and a resident of Pueblo, Colorado, spoke at a recent town-hall meeting in Des Plaines. Her testimony about how legal weed has negatively affected her hospital and community is powerful. Watch and listen to what she has to say here.

Washington state also has a huge problem with calls to poison centers as well.

4.) Increased Marijuana-Related Exposures in Children 0-5 Years Old. 

“A study in the December 2018 Pediatrics found that nearly half of hospitalized children in Colorado whose parents enrolled in a smoking cessation program tested positive for marijuana exposure. Authors of the study, “Marijuana and Tobacco Co-Exposure in Hospitalized Children” (published online Nov. 19), said findings suggest prevalent co-use of tobacco and marijuana in the state that could expose children to harmful effects of both.” Read more here and here.

5.) Increased Violent Crime in Legalized States; more here.

Are you surprised to learn that research published in the journal Psychological Medicine concludes that continued use of cannabis causes violent behavior as a direct result of changes in brain function that are caused by smoking weed over many years? Read more here.

6.) Increased and Potential Serious Brain Alteration; more here.

Medical research has revealed altered brain activity in young adults with cannabis addiction. The findings suggest a mechanism that may explain why the risk of depression and other mental health issues is higher among those who use the drug. Read more here, from the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

7.) Increased Heroin and Opioid Deaths in Illinois After “Medical” Marijuana is Legalized in 2013.

Would you be surprised to know that legal weed is also linked to increased alcohol consumption? More here, from Dr. Kenneth Finn.

8.) Premature Aging of the Brain.

“By studying a large number of imaging scans, researchers have identified conditions and behaviors that could make the brain age prematurely, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcohol use, and the use of cannabis.” (Medical News Today)

9.) Increased Marijuana-Related Traffic Fatalities; more here. 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a report in October 2018 claiming that “Colorado, Washington, and Oregon experienced a 5.2% higher police-reported crash rate overall than would have been expected had they not legalized recreational marijuana.”

10.) Increased Social and Economic Costs Outweigh Tax Revenue by $4.50 to every $1. more here and here.

Given the facts above, you can see how the social costs for the state’s first responders, welfare system, health care system, traffic fatalities, violent crime, increased use in all age categories, and addiction – are costs Illinois cannot afford.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this playlist of 16 videos (and growing) dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

If anyone still thinks marijuana is a harmless drug, Theodore Jones’ testimony proves otherwise. Jones, a substance abuse counselor and manager at Pacific Garden Mission and a “former recovering drug addict,” found physical and spiritual salvation through the ministry of PGM. Please watch as he reveals the common thread in the addiction stories of the men he counsels at Pacific Garden Mission and explains why he opposes legalized marijuana.

Please watch and listen to this short video of Mr. Jones’ presentation:

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to ask them to reject the push for legal marijuana. Respectfully request they do not legalize marijuana in Illinois. Additionally, please call your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. The Capitol switchboard number is (217) 782-2000.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Illinois Senate Bill 7 to legalize and commercialize passed out of committee this week as a “shell bill”.  The sponsor said they are still working on the language for the bill and will file an amendment by the end of April.

Preliminary recreational cannabis plan – SB 7

Illinois State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) said she and other stakeholders are looking to allow people 21 and older to have a little more than an ounce at a time. They are also considering proposals to add three new licenses to the state’s existing medical marijuana program’s cultivation and dispensary licenses.

“So keeping the cultivation centers in place, but adding a craft grow license for a smaller footprint that could be loaded more flexible and have smaller capital entry requirements, a processing license, a transportation license and then the dispensary license,” Steans said.

A state-regulated cannabis marketplace in Illinois would open up potentially lucrative business opportunities for growers, sellers and other ancillary businesses.

. . . Lawmakers have also talked about making sure there’s diversity among those who have legal pot industry licenses, including efforts to get communities and groups that have been most affected by the prohibition of the drug involved in the legal industry.

. . . Lawmakers are still discussing whether the bill will allow adults to grow their own cannabis at home, Steans said. Law enforcement groups have raised concerns about a possible provision to allow five plants per household.  “There is discussion about maybe limiting that to just medical patients, which certainly may be an easier way of enforcing it,” Steans said.  Read more

NOTE:  With the expansion of the medical marijuana program, almost anyone could register for medical marijuana and then grow it!

State Senate passes SB 2023 for marijuana and banking

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs has championed the bill, which would bar the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation from going after banks and credit unions that serve cannabis-related businesses, according to a statement from the treasurer’s office.

. . . While marijuana has been legalized in a growing number of states – for medical use, recreational use or both – the drug is still considered a controlled substance by the feds, making it illegal for banks to do business with the cannabis industry. Read more

Smoking cannabis as teenager increases risk of depression by 40 per cent, Oxford study finds

“Regular use during adolescence is associated with lower achievement at school, addiction psychosis and neuropsychological decline,” he said.

Fellow researcher Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, from McGill University, said teenagers often thought cannabis was safe because it was derived from plants.

Young people with mental health disorders are 3 times more likely to have tried smoking or taking drugs: See chart HERE.

For Immediate Action

1. Call your State Senator and ask him/her to OPPOSE and Vote NO on SB 7. (Capitol switchboard, 217-782-2000)
2. Share this Alert with your faith community and ask them to PRAY.
3. Forward to 10 others.

There are various situations and circumstances that contribute to the growing problem of homelessness in America. According to Pastor Phil Kwiatkowski, president of Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, the factor that most often leads to homelessness is drug use and addiction.  With this reality in mind, why would anyone think that legalizing recreational marijuana is a good idea?

In this video, Pastor Kwiatkowski relates his experience with the connection between homelessness and drug use, specifically marijuana, through the stories of the teens and adults who have come to Pacific Garden Mission to find help and hope. Despite what legal weed proponents would have you believe, marijuana is addictive and it most certainly is a gateway drug that leads to the use of heroin, cocaine, and other “hard” drugs.

Please take  15 minutes to watch and listen to Pastor Kwiatowki’s concerns about legalizing marijuana in Illinois:

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to ask them to reject the push for legal marijuana. Respectfully request they do not legalize marijuana in Illinois. Additionally, please call your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. The Capitol switchboard number is (217) 782-2000.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Written by Walter E. Williams

Ten states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Twenty-two other states, along with U.S. territories Puerto Rico and Guam, allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Let’s examine some hidden issues about marijuana use. Before we start, permit me to state my values about medical or recreational use of any drug. We each own ourselves. If we choose to take chances with substances that can ruin our health, lead to death and otherwise destroy our own lives, that’s our right. But we do not have a right to harm others in the process of harming ourselves.

Alex Berenson is a graduate of Yale University, with degrees in history and economics. He delivered a speech last month at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., on the hidden dangers of marijuana use. He told his audience, “Almost everything that you think you know about the health effects of cannabis, almost everything that advocates and the media have told you for a generation, is wrong.”

The active ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Marijuana is most commonly prescribed for pain, but it’s rarely tested against other pain relief drugs, such as ibuprofen. Last July, a large four-year study of Australian patients with chronic pain showed that cannabis use was associated with greater pain over time. Marijuana, like alcohol, is too weak as a painkiller for people with terminal cancer. They need opiates. Berenson said, “Even cannabis advocates, like Rob Kampia, who co-founded the Marijuana Policy Project … acknowledge that they have always viewed medical marijuana laws mostly as a way to protect recreational users.”

Marijuana legalization advocates sometimes argue that its use reduces opiate use. That is untrue. Berenson said, “The United States and Canada, which are the countries that have the most opioid use, also have by far the worst problem with … cannabis.” Marijuana carries not only a devastating physical health risk but also mental health dangers. A 2017 National Academy of Medicine study found that “cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk. … Regular cannabis use is likely to increase the risk for developing social anxiety disorder.” Also, a paper in the American Journal of Psychiatry last year showed that people who used cannabis in 2001 were almost three times as likely to use opiates three years later, even after adjusting for other potential risks.

Something else that’s not given much attention is that cannabis today is much more potent than it was in the 1970s, when most marijuana contained less than 2 percent THC. Today marijuana routinely contains 20 to 25 percent THC, as a result of sophisticated farming and cloning techniques. As such, it produces a stronger and quicker high. Berenson said that the difference between yesterday’s marijuana and today’s is like the difference between “near beer and a martini.”

Berenson cited several studies and other findings showing a relationship between marijuana use and violence and crime. According to a 2007 paper in The Medical Journal of Australia on 88 felons who had committed homicide during psychotic episodes, almost two-thirds reported misusing cannabis. A 2012 paper in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined a federal survey of more than 9,000 adolescents and found that marijuana use was associated with a doubling of domestic violence. The first four states to legalize marijuana for recreational use were Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. In 2013, those states combined had about 450 murders and 30,300 aggravated assaults. In 2017, they had almost 620 murders and 38,000 aggravated assaults — an increase of 37 percent for murders and 25 percent for aggravated assaults, far greater than the national increase, even after accounting for differences in population growth.

One of the problems with legalization of marijuana is that it gives social sanction to its use. A preferable strategy would be simple decriminalization, which does not imply social sanction. Moreover, where there is no criminal activity associated with any drug usage, it should be treated as a medical problem, as opposed to a criminal problem.

This article was initially published on Creators.com

As you are no doubt aware, our lawmakers in Springfield are now considering legislation to legalize “recreational” marijuana in Illinois. For approximately ten years, we fought against the push for “medical” marijuana, warning that, in part, it would be a stepping stone to full legalization.

The proposal to legalize the use of “medical” marijuana passed in 2013, allowing its legal use to commence on January 1, 2014. Illinois’ Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act is currently scheduled to end on July 1, 2020.

However, many are not aware that in 2016, lawmakers also decriminalized the possession of marijuana, thereby reducing it to a small fine. Furthermore, records are expunged every 6 months.

So six years after their opening maneuver, it’s no surprise that lawmakers are pushing for full legalization of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older. Some proponents claim that legalization will provide much-needed tax revenue. Others profess that legalization will ease the burden on the court system, and yet another faction wrongly believes marijuana is no worse than alcohol, so adults should have the freedom to use it as they choose.

Colorado has had legal marijuana for six years and we can learn much from their embrace of this foolishness. Since legalization, Colorado has seen a 72% increase in pot-related hospitalizations. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed with overdoses from marijuana products that contain a THC concentration ranging from 20% to 90%. As a point of reference, in the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal and almost anything goes, any products with THC levels over 15% are classified as “hard drugs” and remain illegal.

Additionally, Colorado has seen a 66% increase in pot-related deaths since legalization. This growth is partly due to a 67% increase in fatal car crashes involving marijuana-intoxicated drivers. As more and more states follow Colorado’s lead, it is no wonder the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System states that the “rate of marijuana involvement in fatal car crashes will soon rival alcohol as the NUMBER ONE preventable traffic problem.”

With these statistics in mind, it is important to note that marijuana is not like alcohol in its intoxicating effects. Whereas one glass of wine or a typical cocktail would not render an individual intoxicated, one drag on a marijuana joint can get someone high. Please note, I am not speaking from personal experience; rather, I have verified this fact with friends who have used marijuana regularly and they all agree – smoking just a portion of a joint results in the impairment associated with being high. When it comes to marijuana, there is no acceptable minimum, no reasonable or “safe” amount.

As Christians, we ought to be knowledgeable about what Scripture says on the matter:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ~ 1 Peter 5:8

This is a warning! Be sober – don’t be intoxicated! Keep a clear head and a sound mind. Marijuana certainly clouds thinking and alters the senses. It also has a negative effect on fine motor skills and reaction time.

Research shows that these negative effects on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks after the immediate, acute effects of the drug wear off. Consequently, individuals who smoke marijuana daily may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all of the time. Studies have also documented links between marijuana use and psychiatric illness, cancer, stroke, and decreased fertility in men and women.

Simply put, one cannot use this drug and remain sober and alert. Marijuana use leaves people vulnerable to the attacks of our adversary.

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk warned:

Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness! ~ Habakkuk 2:15

The phrase “mix in your venom” refers to the ancient practice of adding herbs or drugs to wine to make it more potent. Today, people mix marijuana in punch, lollipops, cookies and brownies, and even spray THC concentrate on gummy bears. Reportedly, the THC potency is so strong that the recommended “dose” for an adult is one quarter of a gummy bear! Who eats just one quarter of a gummy bear?!? It’s no wonder people are rushed to ERs in agony as they experience the dangerous side effects of THC overdose.

Please, do not be misled. Marijuana is not a benign or beneficial drug no matter how vigorously its proponents claim otherwise and any proposal regarding its legalization should receive serious scrutiny. Christians most certainly should oppose policies that lead to tragic physical, mental, and spiritual consequences.

If we are truly striving to fulfill the second great commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:39) how can we turn a blind eye to such a disastrous policy? If we genuinely love our neighbor as we love ourselves, our concern should be for spiritual consequences, as well as for the overarching negative effect of marijuana on our communities and our culture. It is no exaggeration to suggest that, if marijuana is legal for all, many people will become dependent on the drug and unable to hold down jobs, which will result in a greater dependency on the welfare state and overtaxed social service agencies. Sadly, Colorado has experienced an increase in homelessness to such a degree that it has adversely impacted the state’s lucrative convention and tourism business.

In Matthew 6, the Lord instructs us how we should pray. Part of His template tells us to pray that we not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. The passage of a “recreational” marijuana bill will lead our neighbors, maybe even some of our family members, into temptation, intoxication, and addiction. If we are praying against temptation for ourselves, yet ignore the fact that our government is intentionally placing temptation in front of our neighbors, how can we claim to love our neighbors? How can we claim to love, fear, and obey the Lord?

It is vital that we know the truth of God’s Word so we can recognize and refute the schemes of the devil and thwart his desire to devour people with his lies. We must be informed and proactive to talk with our children about the practical and biblical reasons to avoid the insidious temptation to use marijuana. Finally, we must clearly speak up to make our concerns and objections known to the men and women who represent us in Springfield.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state representative and state senator to urge them to oppose any and all efforts to legalize marijuana. Ask them to oppose SB 7, and tell them you don’t want your more impaired workers on job sites, more impaired drivers on the road, more young people being sucked into a life of addiction and local hospitals having to deal with all of this.

I urge you to think biblically regarding the issues of our day – specifically the debate about legalizing marijuana as a “recreational” substance. Moreover, I encourage you to pick up the phone this week and call your state senator and representative and ask them to strongly oppose and vote against this dangerous and foolish public policy. The Illinois Capitol switchboard number is (217) 782-2000.

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

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Dear Pastors and Ministry Leaders,

Illinois Family Institute is hosting an important Pastor’s Breakfast on Monday, January 28th in Oak Brook regarding the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in our state. There are many consequences for our churches and communities to consider. The colossal costs to society must be thoroughly deliberated before we embrace legalization. Once you investigate the many different aspects of this policy, it is our hope that you will be alarmed at the significant ramifications to families, students, communities, the market place, law enforcement, the environment, first responders, emergency medicine, etc.

Your congregation and community should understand the negative repercussions of this policy before state lawmakers approve recreational marijuana, because it is the public who will reap the fallout. Please join us to learn more about what is going on in states that have already legalized marijuana. Colorado, California and Washington can give us a glimpse of what may be coming our way in the very near future. We believe that the consequences far outweigh the perceived benefits. 

Please contact us if you have any questions, by phone at (708) 781-9328.Click here for a PDF flyer.

The new session of the Illinois General Assembly has already begun. Unless there is an deafening hue and cry from citizens across the state, this policy will be foisted on us all with little to no regulation. If you’d like to know what that looks like, please watch or listen to this presentation by Jo McGuire.

Please also read these recent articles in major publications sounding the alarm about the trend to legalize marijuana:

What Advocates of Legalizing Pot Don’t Want You to Know (The New York Times)

Marijuana Is More Dangerous Than You Think (Wall Street Journal)

Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think (The New Yorker)

Please pray that our state lawmakers will listen to the objections and concerns of industry leaders, law enforcement officials, clergy members, educators, parents and grandparents in this once great state. May God have mercy on us!