Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner wouldn’t have allowed medical pot in Illinois had he been governor over this past term. Since he’s not governor, though it’s easy for him to sit back and play armchair quarterback when it comes to medical cannabis and criticize the current administration for following through with the will of the people and their elected officials.
But medical marijuana is legal, and now Rauner says he would milk it for all he can. His latest idea? Give out grow and dispensary licenses to the highest bidders, effectively cutting out small business owners and giving preferential treatment not to those who care about patients and medicine, but those who purely see dollar signs in the new industry.

Gov. Mark Dayton took to the radio yesterday morning to say that his proposal to research medical marijuana hasn’t gotten any love from the advocates of broader legalization. He put the prospects of passing it between “slim and none.”
However, those same advocates plan to add part of the Dayton proposal as an amendment and are open to compromising on some points. They contend that the governor’s version of a medical marijuana program — despite his assertions — would help no one in the immediate future.