SSDP+10-20-11

Field work day #3

SSDP spent the day learning about the medical cannabis movement, and it was a productive, satisfying day. We were initially disappointed that two guest speakers had to cancel last minute. Lou Lang is the original sponsor of SB 1381, and Kelly Cassidy is a new state representative who wants to work on the bill moving forward. I also couldn't get Dan Linn from Illinois NORML to come, which was a shame because Dan is sooooo good at framing the legislation in a civics dialogue about how a bill becomes a law. In the absence of these resource people, we forged ahead with a viewing of //Waiting to Inhale//, and we made good progress. The film is always moving, and I appreciate how it tells a story that is pro-cannabis while including opponents in a way that doesn't make them seem irrational. Following the film, we broke down arguments for and against legalizing medical cannabis for a good two hours, and the students had the opportunity to evaluate different strands of logic. We reviewed the Schedule of Narcotics in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970; we reviewed a summary from January 2011 of the cannabis programs in the 15 states that have legal programs; and we looked at the text of SB 1381 (the Illinois bill). To bring the issue into the present, we did a jigsaw activity to look at some articles from the past month, one of which ranked President Obama as the worst president on medical cannabis ever.