SAVE MARIJUANA FOR THE AILING

When will we accept that America's war on drugs is over -- we lost --
and it's time to get real about our drug laws?

Medical marijuana should be legalized. Pot more generally should be
decriminalized. And the carnage in our streets and in Mexico begs that
we rethink our nation's approach to the sale and use of more serious
drugs as well.

The evidence of failure of strict prohibition is every day in the
news.

Over the weekend, 52 people were shot in Chicago, a stunning tally
that the police blame in large part on gangs.

The police will also tell you that the lifeblood of the gangs is the
sale of illegal drugs. The gangs are the Al Capones of our day,
peddling an illegal product for which the demand is enormous.

We can disrupt the gangs' operations -- as Cook County Sheriff Tom
Dart did last week when his officers seized 5,525 pounds of pot worth
$20 million -- but we will never put them out of business, no more
than we could put the bootleggers out of business.

We fill our prisons with young men who have committed drug-related
crimes -- a shameful waste of human potential and the taxpayers' money
-- but nothing changes. For thousands of high school dropouts who
might otherwise be washing dishes for minimum wage, the money in drugs
is just too good.

The sheriff's plan is to burn all that confiscated pot, a further
reminder of how irrational our drug policies are. We agree with those
who say the pot should be used for medical purposes by people living
in great physical pain.

But, of course, Illinois continues to prohibit the use of marijuana
for medical purposes -- even as 14 other states have seen the light.

Illinois Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) is pushing a medical pot bill, one
with strict limits, that deserves support across the political spectrum.

Meanwhile in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon continues to lose his
own war on drugs, largely because he is powerless to stem the American
demand. Drug cartels are killing and bribing their way to power, and
some say Mexico is in danger of becoming a failed state.

When do we stop playing pretend?