Pubdate: Mon, 11 Nov 2013
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright: 2013 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://host.madison.com/wsj/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Sandy Cullen

AT ISSUE: MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A weekly feature on proposed changes to state and local law.

In a nutshell

Current law prohibits a person from possessing, manufacturing or 
distributing marijuana.

This bill (AB480, SB363) creates a medical use defense to 
marijuana-related prosecutions and fines, and prohibits the arrest or 
prosecution of people who are registered with the Department of 
Health Services (DHS) and have certain debilitating medical 
conditions or treatments.

People who are registered could possess 12 marijuana plants and 3 
ounces of marijuana leaves or flowers. They would be prohibited from 
operating a motor vehicle or heavy machinery or engaging in any other 
conduct that endangers the health or well being of another person 
while under the influence of marijuana.

The bill requires DHS to establish a registry for people who use 
marijuana for medical use. People may apply for a registry 
identification card for a fee of not more than $150. A registry 
identification card is generally valid for two years and may be renewed.

The bill also requires DHS to license and regulate nonprofit 
corporations, known as compassion centers, that distribute marijuana.

It also requires DHS to register entities as testing laboratories to 
test marijuana for contaminants, research findings on the use of 
medical marijuana and provide training on safe and efficient 
cultivation, harvesting, packaging, labeling and distribution of 
marijuana, security and inventory accountability and research on 
medical marijuana.

This bill changes state law regarding marijuana. It does not affect 
federal law, which generally prohibits persons from manufacturing, 
delivering or possessing marijuana.

The case for it

"This is something we have needed for a long time," said Gary Storck, 
co-founder of Is My Medicine Legal YET?

"Legislators have not stepped up to the will of the people," Storck 
said, adding, "It's tying every doctor's hands who has a patient who 
would benefit from this."

California legalized medical marijuana 17 years ago, he said, adding 
that 20 states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana laws.

Storck said more people are using medical marijuana to help alleviate 
symptoms of illnesses ranging from cancer to seizure disorders, 
putting themselves at legal risk.

"This will not only further the cause of compassion in treating 
people's illnesses," he said, it will help to create jobs. The case against it

Dr. Michael Miller, vice speaker of the House of Delegates for the 
Wisconsin Medical Society, which opposes the bill, said it takes the 
authority for approving a medication away from the federal Food and 
Drug Administration.

Miller said doctors who approve marijuana use for their patients 
under such bills are enaging in a political act, not a medical one, 
and generally do not follow up with patients as they would with other 
medications that they prescribe.

If the bill were only about compassionate use of marijuana by people 
who are terminally ill, or about legalizing marijuana outright, he 
said, "It would be a different discussion."

Miller, the medical director of the Herrington Recovery Center at 
Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc, said marijuana is not without 
health risks, especially when smoked, and about 10 percent of people 
who use it become addicted. Approving its medical use adds to 
perceptions that it is safe, especially among young people, whose use 
of marijuana is rising. To get involved

To contact your lawmaker about this or any other bill, call the 
legislative hotline, which is staffed from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. 
weekdays at 608-266-9960 or 800-362-9472. To send an email, go to the 
Legislature's website at legis.wisconsin.gov, select Assembly or 
Senate and then "Email directory."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom