ILLINOIS:  Chicago’s Swedish Covenant Hospital wants to be the first in Illinois to open its own dispensary for medical marijuana.

Officials there say a hospital is the ideal setting for such an outlet because its pharmacy is already set up for prescriptions; but the federal government still considers marijuana illegal, and a hospital that sells it could lose Medicare and Medicaid funds.

Swedish Covenant is asking congress to change the law to reflect the reality that several states now consider marijuana legal.