Ill. House fails to OK medical marijuana use

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois House has voted down legislation that would have approved the use of marijuana to ease pain or nausea because of illness.

The long-debated issue got just 53 of the 60 votes it needed for approval Tuesday.

Democratic Rep. Lou Lang used a procedure to postpone consideration of the measure to another time.

The bill would allow people to get permission from a physician and the Department of Public Health to have marijuana plants in their home and use it for treating the symptoms of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses.

But critics say other legal drugs can ease symptoms and that Lang’s bill doesn’t address medical treatment – just possession of pot.

The Senate OK’d the bill in May.