Jim Oberweis on Drugs

Who am I to say patients shouldn't use medical marijuana?

Illinois legalized medical marijuana last summer. Oberweis voted for it and after it passed the state Senate he said, "The bottom line is: Who am I to say that they shouldn't be allowed to use that if in fact that will help them?"

But if it came up at the federal level, Oberweis would argue it wouldn't be Congress' place to legalize it. In a prepared statement, he said, "The federal government needs to let the states make decisions for themselves, the same way states get to set their own speed limits and handle their own economic policies."

Twenty states have legalized medical marijuana and two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Let doctoral psychologists prescribe controlled substances

• The Clinical Psychologists Licensing Board shall grant certification as prescribing psychologists to doctoral level psychologists.
• The Board shall develop and implement procedures and criteria for reviewing educational and training credentials for the certification process and the extent of prescriptive authority.
• Prescribing psychologist certification requirements: completion of a doctoral program in psychology; or graduation with a master's degree in clinical psychopharmacology, including instruction in anatomy and physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology; and having successfully completed a supervised clinical experience including clinical assessment and pathophysiology, plus a supervised practicum of at least 400 hours treating no fewer than 100 patients with mental disorders.