Pubdate: Tue, 22 Mar 2016
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2016 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/general/30627794.html
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Jason Stein

VOS VOWS ANOTHER RUN AT CANNABIDIOL MEASURE

Assembly Speaker Says He'll Again Push Bill to Treat Seizures

Madison - Frustrated with last week's failure of a bill to help 
children with chronic seizures, the head of the state Assembly said 
he's going to push the proposal as soon as possible next session.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has described himself as a 
former skeptic who's become a convert to the possibilities of 
socalled CBD oil, a strictly controlled drug sometimes used to treat 
severely epileptic children with few other medical options.

A bill to make it easier for parents to obtain CBD oil passed the 
Assembly last session but, to the surprise of supporters like Vos, 
was blocked in the Senate last week by three Republicans.

Vos said he won't accept that outcome next year if he remains the 
leader of the Assembly majority.

"If that happens, I am going to do everything in my power to make 
sure this passes as one of our first bills in January," Vos said in 
an interview.

Another of the bill's key backers agreed.

"This is going to be ready to go right out of the chute (in 
January)," said Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who pledged to 
overcome the obstacles to the bill next session. "It will not happen 
to me again."

Cannabis oil is a byproduct of marijuana that proponents say may 
reduce seizures in children who suffer from scores of them in a 
single day. Under normal circumstances, the oil won't make users high 
because it's extremely low in THC, the active ingredient in a joint.

The National Conference of State Legislatures lists 17 states as 
having passed measures to allow or condone limited use of CBD 
products low in THC.

At the federal level, the move to legalize CBD for medical use has 
supporters like Speaker Paul Ryan of the U.S. House of Representatives.

But CBD is still illegal in most circumstances in Wisconsin and as a 
treatment it remains controversial.

Legislators and Gov. Scott Walker approved legislation in 2014 to 
allow families to obtain cannabidiol oil, known by the acronym CBD, 
in certain limited cases to treat patients. But the conditions have 
proved so restrictive that families and physicians have been unable 
to make use of it.

AB 228 was aimed at expanding that access, but the bill's opponents 
managed to block it last week even though it appeared that as many as 
30 of the Senate's 33 senators would have voted for it if given the chance.

That was deeply frustrating to Sally Schaeffer of Burlington, whose 
daughter Lydia suffered from seizures in her sleep and who died in 
2014 at age 7 from her profound medical challenges. Schaeffer, who 
has lobbied elected officials like Vos, Wanggaard and Ryan on the 
issue, has continued to fight to make CBD treatment available for 
other families even though it came too late for her daughter.

Schaeffer talked Monday about the anguish she and her husband still 
feel and the struggles they have to explain Lydia's death to her 
5year-old brother, who now worries about losing his mother and other 
family members.

"I come home every day and I can't believe she's gone," said Schaeffer.

AB 228 passed the Assembly in February on a voice vote, which is 
normally used for noncontroversial legislation. But in the Senate it 
still faces substantial obstacles.

Three Republicans - Senate President Mary Lazich of New Berlin and 
Sens. Duey Stroebel of Cedarburg and Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa - have 
firmly opposed the bill out of concerns that include a fear it could 
lead to the legalization of marijuana in Wisconsin.

Lazich said Monday that she wasn't running for reelection but Vukmir 
and Stroebel will likely remain as opponents.

Vukmir, a nurse by training, said that CBD oil hasn't been approved 
by the federal Food and Drug Administration and that policy should be 
"driven by facts not emotion."

"I support scientific study and proper protocols as a means for 
providing patients with clinically observed answers. My opposition 
stems from not understanding why a drug derived from marijuana should 
circumvent the FDA process which helps ensure safety, a process that 
all other prescription drugs must go through," Vukmir said in a statement.

The Wisconsin Medical Society also opposed AB 228, as did several law 
enforcement groups.

Schaeffer and other supporters of the bill say that leaves desperate 
families with no options. She asked why CBD is kept effectively off 
limits when Lydia was allowed to try certain drugs for her seizures 
that were "off label," or being used for an unapproved age group or purpose.

Vos said he believes that patients and families deserved a chance to 
decide for themselves.

"If you don't help everybody, let them try," Vos said. "Give them a chance."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom