Originally posted on The Fresh Scent.

The Medical Marijuana referendum brigade is on the warpath.

Today it’s setting its sights on Illinois, where State Senator William Haine (D) has sponsored the Compassionate Use of Cannabis Pilot Program Act. And, as per usual, some of Senator Haine’s colleagues are playing the role of Cretin’s Advocate, as they argue for the logically challenged.

Soft-brained Senator Patricia Bellock (R) noted:

“It is the No. 1 drug that introduces young people to other drugs.”

Common knowledge would tell one that a plant doesn’t have the sentience or social skills necessary to introduce people to other inanimate objects. So, unless Senator Bellock is secretly an Herbal Animist Witch (and thus privy to inside information), this argument doesn’t seem to hold much weight.

Simple State Rep Julie Hamos expressed some further concerns about the bill:

…I’m worried about giving plants to patients.

Perhaps Julie is right. It does seem incredibly dangerous to give sick people access to plants. Much better to keep them in sterilized tube-bubbles while they pop rainbow-colored pills that are seventeen steps removed from anything that occurs in nature. We should be pumping as many chemicals into the sick and dying as possible. Giving them access to plants only reminds them that there is a living world outside their hospital cell windows. This could dangerously reinvigorate the suffering.

State Rep. Lou Lang (D) summed the whole thing up pretty well:

The opposition is coming from members… who don’t have the guts to say ‘yes’… They are fearful of their next election and looking for excuses, while people are out there suffering.

Lou’s right on the money. Politicians have a history of being a heck of a lot more paranoid than pot smokers. Rationality can be very hard to come by this time of year.

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