On Q Professional Investigations

“TV and movies tell us security guards are bumbling fat idiots. They are the butt of a joke. Falling asleep with their feet up, they never pay attention to those security camera monitors while burglars steal gold or priceless paintings or stacks of cash. They’re easily distracted, easily gagged and tied up and — as in Die Hard or The Matrix or countless other action films — easily killed.

In real life, they work long, boring hours strolling the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, waving metal detectors at Mets games, printing sticky visitor passes at commercial buildings, checking IDs at concerts, standing for hours and hours on end at public landmarks, department stores, colleges, pharmacies.

There are more than two times as many security guards than police officers in New York state and roughly 10 times as many guards as firefighters. While a lot of kids grow up itching to join the NYPD or the fire department, it’s hard to find someone who said they wanted to be a security guard when they grew up.

The guard who patrols a corporate plaza with an H&R Block and Chase Bank in Midtown wants to be a train conductor. The guard scanning IDs at a commercial office building near Grand Central dreams of a career as a stand-up comedian. The guard who works at a Duane Reade in the Upper West Side hopes to be a cop. The older guards who aren’t retired police officers, when asked what they think of a career in security, will shrug, as if to say, “It’s a job. It pays the rent.”

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A doctor who leads the Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board says she’s not optimistic about the chances of expanding the state’s marijuana program based on previous decisions by Gov. Rauner’s administration.

Board chair Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple says the advisory board is moving forward and evaluating the 15 health conditions on its agenda. The advisory board is meeting Monday in Springfield.

The meeting could lead to new recommendations from the expert panel. But Rauner’s administration has twice before rejected the board’s suggestions.

Among the new ailments to be considered Monday by the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board are Lyme disease, panic disorders, persistent depressive disorder, and MRSA, a drug-resistant staph infection.

The meeting could lead to new recommendations from the expert panel. But Rauner’s administration has twice before rejected the board’s suggestions.

Among the new ailments to be considered Monday by the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board are Lyme disease, panic disorders, persistent depressive disorder, and MRSA, a drug-resistant staph infection.

Supporters want the med pot program broadened to include painful conditions that don’t respond to conventional treatment, saying the benefits outweigh the risks. But Rauner has called for conservative steps in increasing access to marijuana.

Currently, 39 conditions and diseases can qualify a patient to use medical marijuana in Illinois. The state’s medical marijuana law allows people to suggest new diseases for the program twice annually.

The board, which is made up of doctors, nurses, patients and advocates, has only an advisory role. And Rauner has rejected previous recommendations to expand access, including an effort by veterans that would allow those with post traumatic stress disorder to use medical marijuana.

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