* Let’s hope Rep. Lou Lang’s prediction that former Gov. Pat Quinn doomed the medical marijuana program by not issuing licenses for growers and distributors turns out to be inaccurate…

The recommendations for the licenses had reached Quinn’s desk, Rep. Lou Lang said. But the ex-governor has not explained why he left office without acting on them. The applicants paid thousands of dollars in fees totaling $5 million, Lang said.

“This single failure may doom the medical cannabis program,” Lang said. “This single failure said to all of those folks that made applications to be cultivators or dispensary owners that, ‘We took your $5 million dollars but we’ll get to you when we feel like it.’”

Lang said applicants might take the state to court to recover their money. Also left in a lurch are cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy patients waiting to seek treatment through the program.

“Some very sick people were hurt yesterday,” Lang said. “And some very innocent people were hurt yesterday. And some very innocent families were hurt yesterday. From a person who has spent his life talking about healthcare.”

* More…

Lang said even if the licenses for growers and distributors were awarded tomorrow, it would still only leave around 2 1/2 years for the program. Once the licenses are issued, it would take at least four to six months for the first crop to be ready for sale. The legislation did not include a specific timeline for issuing licenses.

“This single failure may doom the medical cannabis program,” Lang said. “This single failure said to all of those folks that made applications to be cultivators or dispensary owners that we took your $5 million but we’ll get to you when we feel like it.”

He said he was considering introducing legislation to start a new timeline for the program from when it is actually implemented. […]

Lang said he intended to open a dialogue with the new governor. He plans to contact Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, who split with Rauner during the campaign and said she supported medical marijuana. Lang said he hoped Rauner wouldn’t start the application process over with his own staff at the helm.

Unless something dramatic emerges to justify Quinn’s punt, this inaction by the former governor was an inexcusable cowardly act. And, sorry, but I don’t buy this…

Quinn spokesman Brooke Anderson disputed that, insisting that the only reason he balked in the waning hours of his administration was that the heavy lifting on vetting the applicants was not complete.

“There was more work to do,” she said. “Agency officials were rushing to get the work completed.”

You can watch Lang’s full press conference by clicking here.