LEGISLATURE FAILS TO SEE LIGHT THROUGH THE SMOKE

Opening Shot

There are more victims of the culture wars than gays forced to live as
second-class, quasi-citizens or religious righters forced to dwell in
a world that also contains people who hold beliefs different from
their own. There are, for instance, gravely ill cancer patients, those
coping with AIDS and old ladies with glaucoma who can't avail
themselves of the medicine that best alleviates their suffering -- pot
- -- due to our hidebound notions about what is medicine and what is an
evil drug.

For a moment, the Illinois Legislature seemed poised to consider a
bill that would ease patient access to medical marijuana. The feds are
dead set against it, with the same flexibility of mind that has made
the drug war such a success. But legislators chickened out, managing
to ignore suffering among the very sick, help fill prisons, clog the
courts and siphon money out of your pocket all at the same time.