I was taking this online poll at The Chicago Tribune about medical marijuana and the wording got me thinking:

Do you support the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes?

Naturally, over 90% said yes because only a small number of really difficult people still have a problem with medical marijuana. But what do these people even mean that they don't "support the use of marijuana for medical purposes?" There are FDA approved medications with the same active ingredient as marijuana. Saying "marijuana isn't medicine" isn't an opinion, it's a factual error.

Really, the poll question might as well read: Do you support the use of medicine for medicinal purposes?

Via MPP, another example of the daily idiocy that will continue until medical marijuana use is protected throughout the country:

Laura Llanes does not regret buying her aunt marijuana, even though it has cost her a job as police dispatcher.

She was stunned, nevertheless, when she was fired last week after admitting she bought the marijuana to help relieve her aunt's suffering through breast cancer and chemotherapy.

Marijuana for medicinal purposes is legal with a prescription in 13 states; Illinois is not one of them.

Llanes, 28, of Lake Villa remains adamant she did the right thing, saying her biggest mistake was telling a few co-workers what she had done: "They ratted me out."

Her aunt, who lives in Aurora, was "sick constantly, not eating, not having an appetite. She is diabetic. She has to eat. She was whittling away to nothing," said Llanes.

"I thought I will get her some marijuana so it would get her to eat. It worked. She did get the munchies." [Chicago Tribune]

It's a sad story to be sure, but if there's a bright side, it's that this entire story in The Chicago Tribune makes opponents of medical marijuana sound like monsters. There's a bill in the Illinois legislature to end this madness once and for all. I hope the state's legislators read the paper today, because this story tells you everything you need to know about why medical marijuana laws are needed.