The first medical marijuana dispensary opened its doors this week in Marion, population 17,413. They even held a ribbon cutting, which was much attended by downstate local press and chamber of commerce types. “This is going to be a great boon for many people who are in dire need of help,” gushed Mayor Bob Butler in an interview with a local newscaster. The Harbory will reportedly employ 13 people. But there’s a catch. There’s no pot to sell because no one has yet harvested a crop in Illinois. That’s supposed to happen next month. It was impossible to discern from media reports just what Harbory employees will do until weed comes through the door. The business is owned by a St. Louis plastic surgeon and her son, neither of whom could be reached for comment by press time. Meanwhile, would-be patients aren’t crashing computer systems with applications for cards to give them the legal right to use pot for a narrow set of medical conditions. More than a year after the first applications were accepted, the state has received 4,000 applications and issued 3,100 cards. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has rejected pleas to expand the list of conditions for which pot can legally be used, most recently saying no to people with such ailments as posttraumatic stress disorder, migraine headaches and anorexia nervosa. Likewise, the General Assembly has hardly been a toker’s friend, refusing to go along with Rauner’s amendatory veto that would have decriminalized possession of 10 grams or less so that punishment would be capped at a $200 fine and no permanent mark would be left on one’s record. The bill sent to the governor set the threshold at 15 grams, with a maximum fine of $125. Rather than compromise, the legislature last month let Rauner’s version die, even though it was endorsed by the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. Call it the bud impasse.