Poll: Should Medical Marijuana Be Legal In Illinois?

The federal government has stepped up a crackdown on medical marijuana users and distributors.

The Huffington Post recently reported raids on those involved with medical marijuana and President Obama’s apparent decision to back away from a 2007 campaign pledge.

Medical marijuana is legal in 16 states. A in the Illinois House earlier this year. The same bill, championed by state Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), .

Some prominent local politicians, including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, .

“Instead of dealing with our addiction problem in this country with a public health response, we’ve responded by criminalizing people,” Preckwinkle said in February in Palatine. “And I would suggest that’s destructive to those individuals. It’s destructive to the communities they come out of and it's extraordinarily expensive to the rest of us.”