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What Are The Laws Regarding Medical Use Of Marijuana In Illinois?


Regarding Medical Use Of MarijuanaMarijuana is the new craze all around the world – it is being used for a number of reasons: mental health, pain relief, sleep solutions, and many more. These days it has become so popular that in many areas you can order marijuana online to your door. States all over the country are one by one legalizing it for medical purposes but many are also allowing it recreationally as well. The Illinois law regarding medical marijuana is relatively new. The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act allows individuals with qualifying illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and MS to obtain up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. Whether this is inhaled, smoked, ingested, it doesn’t matter because it is for pain relief and other medical reasons. There are a bunch of different methods, and equipment to use which can be suited to the person taking the cannabis, see these bubblers with percolators, for an example. Obviously there are restrictions on this, like doing it within your home, not in your car or in a public area. And then aside from having one of the qualifying illnesses, an individual must have no prior drug offenses or violent crimes in their background in order to qualify. If you have a prior marijuana case on your record and can demonstrate that there was a medical need for that marijuana, then it is unlikely that it would prevent you from qualifying.

In addition to the limit of 2.5 ounces every two weeks, you can’t use the marijuana in any public location where people could see or smell you smoking it. In addition, if you and your friends want to smoke some top shelf weed in your car, you cannot, as it is prohibited too. There are additional restrictions that preclude school bus drivers, CDL drivers, police officers, firefighters, control agents, and any active duty law enforcement correctional officers from participating in the program.

Will A Police Officer Know That I Am A Medical Marijuana Cardholder If I Am Pulled Over And My Driver’s License Is Run?

In Illinois, your medical marijuana card is attached to your driver’s license, which means that anyone who runs your driver’s license would see that you are a medical marijuana cardholder. In most cases, the police would know this by running your license plates, so long as the car is registered in your name.

What Are The Laws In Illinois Regarding Driving Over The Legal Limit And Having THC In Your System?

In Illinois, it is against the law to drive under the influence of any drug, or while there is any amount of controlled substance, including cannabis or marijuana in your blood. This means that they don’t have to prove that you are intoxicated or impaired, but only that you have a controlled substance in your blood.

The new law for medical marijuana is 11501A7, which refers to operating a vehicle with cannabis in your system. They have to prove that you were driving within two hours of having five nanograms of THC per milliliter of whole blood or 10 nanograms of THC per milliliter of sterile blood. When you do consume cannabis, see if you can approximately measure the amount of THC that goes into your body. This can be a tad difficult to do, but having a general idea about it can help. For example, smoking herbs could be less potent than consuming concentrates (https://www.togoweed.co/product-category/concentrates/) as the latter tend to have a higher THC percentage. Having a measuring device on hand could be useful too. The trickiest aspect of this new law is that no one really knows exactly how these measurements correlate to being under the influence of cannabis. In other words, what does it feel like to have five nanograms per milliliter of THC in your blood? Would you be too intoxicated to even speak or walk, or would you feel relatively normal due to having developed a high tolerance for marijuana? If you have a medical marijuana card, then you are exempt from the nanogram measurement law, but they can still prosecute you under a different statute if they can prove that you were intoxicated to the extent that you couldn’t safely operate a motor vehicle.

Is It Illegal To Transport Medical Marijuana In Your Vehicle?

It is not illegal to transport medical marijuana in your vehicle, as long as you transport it in a particular way. First off, you always need to make sure that you have your medical marijuana card with you in order to readily show an officer that you are legally able to possess the cannabis. If transporting cannabis in your vehicle, the law provides that it must be “reasonably secured, sealed in a tempered resistant container” while the vehicle is moving. This means that you can’t just have it in your pocket. To be safe, it would be best to transport it in your trunk so that it is entirely out of your arm’s reach.

For more information on Laws Regarding Medical Marijuana In IL, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (708) 218-0947 today.

Donald N. Macneil, Esq.

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