Yorkville Police Chief Rich Hart is one of a growing chorus of law enforcement officials who are in favor of marijuana legalization, as long as it's regulated properly.

“Prohibition just hasn’t worked and it’s never going to work,” he said. “At this point, it’s better if there’s proper regulation."

Years ago, the concept of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana would be as foreign as flying cars or a cure for cancer, but luckily these days the idea is getting more and more popular and a pair of Illinois legislators have filed bills seeking legalization.

House Bill 2353 and Senate Bill 316 both seek to legalize, tax and regulate the recreational use of marijuana in Illinois. The bills are being proposed by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy and state Sen. Heather Steans, two Chicago Democrats.

Support has been shown even among law enforcement, with a Pew poll in January showing 68 percent of police officers believe marijuana should be legal in some form – 32 percent of those surveyed said they favored both medical and personal use of marijuana.

Hart said that, from a police officer's perspective, he would rather deal with someone who's consumed marijuana than someone who's downed a few Jack and Cokes or beers.

"Most of the time, intoxicated [drunk] individuals can get violent," he said. "You rarely see that with cannabis, unless it's mixed with other drugs or alcohol. If it came down between the two, I'd rather deal with somebody who's high on cannabis than I would an intoxicated individual."

I asked Hart about the federal government's stance on marijuana legalization, since Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he's not in favor of it.

“The federal government’s going to have to step up on this, and they’re just going to have to flat out do what the federal government does in situations like this, regulate it just like they do tobacco and alcohol,” Hart said. “They’re going to have to give the states the guidelines to work from.”

Hart said he still has concerns about driving-under-the-influence cases increasing, as he has heard from some Colorado law enforcement colleagues, and he wants to see continued education about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana for children.

"The biggest thing is, there's got to be a continued education process, like we do with tobacco and alcohol," he said. "Really, we won't be able to gauge how this worked until 10 years from now, how this will affect the 15- to 25-year-olds, that generation."

But it appears that the two proposed Illinois bills address some of the concerns, as consuming marijuana in public, consuming marijuana while driving, or driving under the influence of marijuana will remain illegal. A percentage of the tax revenues would go toward substance abuse treatment and public safety campaigns about the risks of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana, and residents could grow up to five plants out of reach of children and away from public view in their home.

The state has taken baby steps already toward legalization. Legislators approved a medical marijuana pilot program in 2014, but that comes with several restrictions on who can be prescribed marijuana for medical purposes. Last July, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law legislation that makes the possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less a civil law violation that is punishable by a fine, rather than jail time. In Yorkville, for example, someone caught with that amount of marijuana can be fined between $100 and $300 for a first offense.

Although these steps are well-meaning, they leave the state's thriving black market for pot intact. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health states that around 750,000 Illinois residents consume 327 metric tons of marijuana every year, but only 17,000 of those residents participate in the medical marijuana pilot program. That's a lot of pot, reefer, weed, or whatever you want to call it, that is being consumed and not taxed.

The idea of legalizing marijuana has become more popular over the past decade or so, to where people who wear "Make America Great Again" caps and people who sport Planned Parenthood shirts come to agreement on it. Liberals and conservatives, coming together for a cause. What could be more beautiful?

A Gallup poll of 1,015 American adults in October showed 60 percent support marijuana legalization nationwide. In that survey, 42 percent of Republicans were in favor of legalization, while 67 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents were in favor. Younger people were more in favor than their parents' generation: 77 percent of those 18 to 34, 61 percent of those 35 to 54, and 45 percent of those 55 and older favored legalization.

Let's get with the program, Illinois. If the law enforcement community is ready, then we're ready.

• Tony Scott is the news editor for Record Newspapers.