Medical Marijuana: Coming to *Another* State Near You?

The number of states that allow one form or another of medical marijuana may in the near future grow (see what I did there?) from sixteen (DC makes seventeen) to twenty four, putting almost half of the nation's sovereign states in blatant defiance of federal law. Currently, seven ballot initiatives/proposed pieces of legislation are awaiting action in Illinois, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. A couple of these cases require a closer look.

The proposed Illinois statute would authorize users with medical marijuana prescriptions to fill their scripts at state-licensed dispensaries under a pilot program that would last three years; after the three years, the legislature would theoretically review the program's successes and/or failures and decide whether or not to renew the program. Unfortunately, here in Illinois medical marijuana is mostly wishful thinking at this point. The legislation has been stalled for several years and is not currently up for any votes or discussion.

Interestingly, Illinois' Democrat governor Pat Quinn, who is on the record as saying he thinks marijuana should remain illegal, supports Chicago mayor (and Obama flunkie) Rahm Immanuel's proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in Chicago. I hope a reporter is able to corner Quinn and get him to admit why he favors decriminalization in Chicago but not the rest of the state.

Unfortunately, Missouri's proposal also appears to be dead in the water. It is currently not scheduled for any review in the Missouri legislature. We can only hope that the bill's sponsor will find the courage to re-introduce it at the next legislative session.

Of course, while I welcome any attempts to introduce medical marijuana, my ultimate desire remains full legalization across the country.