What does it mean that two Pennsylvania state senators — one from the liberal left, one from the libertarian right — have joined forces on a medical marijuana bill, targeted to help kids who can't get relief from severe, recurring epileptic seizures?

Not much, in political terms.

Everything, to suffering children and their parents, who see encouraging results in states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use.

No issue quite illustrates the gap between public opinion and Pennsylvania's stuck-in-the mud legislature as medical marijuana. A bill introduced this week by Sens. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, and Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, prescribes a fairly strict approach to treating childhood seizures that don't respond to pharmaceutical drugs. The bill would legalize cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound found in marijuana that has no get-high qualities. It is taken as oral drops or pills, and has shown promise for kids with recurring seizures, including Dravet syndrome, which can be life-threatening.

The bill is the first of its kind to receive bipartisan support in Harrisburg — yet it’s going nowhere. Senate president Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester, has indicated it won’t get a hearing. A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett said he’ll veto any medical marijuana legislation that gets through the Legislature.

Corbett’s rationale? He doesn’t lack compassion for children, a spokesman said — he wants to wait until the federal Food and Drug Administration completes its testing and trials of cannabidiol.

That’s precious. A governor who spurned the opportunity to create state health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act — along with a federally paid expansion of Medicaid coverage for the working poor — now seeks the cover of the FDA against the appeals of constituents to do something on a state level to help sick kids. And it wouldn’t cost much money under the Leach-Folmer bill.

We're all familiar with the "slippery slope" argument against marijuana decriminalization and legalization — limited legal use would lead to wider illegal use. That fear hasn't stopped New Jersey and other states from adopting a regulated approach.

Actually, there are slopes to be navigated here. The Leach-Folmer bill doesn’t do enough to help people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, wasting syndromes, etc., access marijuana in an effective, legal way. That leaves people with a choice of breaking the law to obtain marijuana, moving to a state that permits its use, or suffering on with little or no relief.

Nor does it begin the conversation — and yes, we’re talking about some kind of legalization or decriminalization here — about changing the mentality of imprisoning low-level marijuana offenders, which takes a huge toll on the individuals involved, their families, law enforcement, corrections and the taxpayer in maintaining a never-ending drug war.

Another slope is the one to which many elected officials still cling, concerned more about a “soft on crime” tag than the public’s views on medical marijuana and other legalization issues. A recent Gallup poll found 58 percent of Americans favor legalization of marijuana for personal use. A Franklin & Marshall poll found 82 percent of Pennsylvanians think medical marijuana should be available to those who need it.

One of those appearing with Leach at a press conference Monday was Dana Ulrich, a mom seeking access to CBD to help her six-year-old daughter Lorelei, who suffers up to 400 seizures a day.

“My plea today to the government is to leave the doctoring to the doctors,” she said.

That’s only part of the story.

We need leaders to lead. They’re in short supply, and there’s no medical treatment for this ailment.