You’d a thought a sociable smoke with a few friends, or talking and writing about dope wouldn’t cause such a fuss, but it looks like the state of Illinois in America are going to make it a crime to use the web to transmit information about marijuana and other drugs.

The legislation passed the House last week and was presented to the Senate committee on Wednesday. “It’s bringing into the late 20th century existing laws” that apply to communication about drugs through the mail and other means, said Bill Mitchell, the Republican representative who drafted the bill.

But you could also look at if from the [much more enjoyable] side of the smoke screen, as saying it’s also ushering in the potential for a serious abuse of the First Amendment. “It’s a nascent attempt to thwart free speech on the Internet,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the NORML Foundation, an organization that lobbies to decriminalize marijuana.

”[The legislature] is at the vanguard of nit-wittery.” Not so, said Mitchell. “This would not infringe on First Amendment rights. It simply covers illegal solicitation of marijuana and other illegal drugs over the Internet.” We think they should all fire up Revamp and just chill.