Law enforcement officials and drug-policy experts took sharply differing stands Wednesday on whether Illinois should legalize general use of marijuana.
Advocates for legislation pending in the Legislature told a joint House-Senate appropriations committee that it would allow a widely used product to be safely regulated.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, said it would mean even broader use, particularly by teenagers, and lead to more addiction and less-safe roads.
"There would be more people driving under the influence of cannabis," said Sangamon County State's Attorney John Milhiser. "The community would not be better off, the state would not be better off, with legalization."
