And Obama's DEA has been raiding dispensaries and now growers in CA...kind of ironic, since he was a major inhaler back in his teens. Some growers won't go into the program due 1)the prohibitive cost for the license and set up and 2)worries that the feds will raid and put them in prison.

The pharma industry is one HUGE reason that the feds won't take cannabis off of the Schedule 1 list, let alone legalize it for any reason. Many politicians are in the pockets of big pharma, as well as the police, who wouldn't have as much to do if cannabis was legalized, IMO.

When I was in Hawaii this year, I was told by a resident that 99% of the people there "take a break" every day. When I told her of the difficulties in passing this bill in Illinois, I was given a quizzical look, and asked, "Why? It isn't addictive, and no one has OD'd on it."

So, now the game begins...who is on the inside to get the cultivators' license will be the big reward...lots of start up costs, but lots of $$ to be made.

Seriously, we allow cigarettes, the most addictive substance in the brain besides heroin, to be legal; it kills more people and costs our nation so much in health care costs yearly. But tobacco's been one of the biggest lobbying groups in DC. So hmmm...