“As Mackenzie stood trial, his health deteriorated. The baggy sweatpants he wore masked huge cancerous tumors covering his rear and right leg, a symptom of the angiosarcoma he was diagnosed with in 2011. He was rushed to an emergency room in the middle of his trial for a blood transfusion.” Benton Mackenzie died of cancer at the age of 49. Many of his final days were spent in an Iowa courtroom where he was convicted of growing and possessing medical marijuana. There’s no shortage of stupidity when it comes to our drug laws. But witholding products that can provide relief to the dying — while pharmaceutical companies are free to push chemicals that are much more powerful and dangerous — is particularly cruel. Lobbyist money is the ultimate gateway drug.