More pain clinics alone are not the answer to skyrocketing chronic pain rates. Scientific studies and clinical observations have long established marijuana as an effective treatment for pain. Cannabis has shown special efficacy in treating conditions like migraine and nerve pain that often do not respond to conventional medications and treatments. Current law deprives health care professionals of this tool when compassion demands patients have legal access. Meanwhile, state legislation that would legalize this option, AB 550, the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, remains stalled in the Assembly 's Health and Health Care Reform committees, where the chairwoman, Rep. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, refuses to hold a hearing. [continues 115 words]
Is your medicine legal? Jacki Rickert's isn't. The Wisconsin mother suffers from several incurable medical conditions and says the only effective treatment is marijuana. Rickert joined two state legislators and other medical marijuana supporters in late Sept. for a press conference to announce the introduction of new medical marijuana legislation. It was a symbolic day for Rickert, as it marks the 10-year anniversary of the "Journey-for-Justice," a 210-mile trek across the state Rickert and an entourage of medical marijuana supporters made in their wheelchairs that ended at the Capitol. [continues 1140 words]
The controversial issue of medical marijuana is the topic of an informal Wisconsin state Senate hearing at the Capitol Wednesday. The hearing will feature testimony by three experts leading the battle to legalize medical marijuana. Following the speakers, the floor will be open for discussion. Medical marijuana legislation was passed in the state Legislature in 1982, but the bill was only symbolic in its passage because it required but did not receive support from the federal government. Gary Storck, director of the Madison chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said a medical marijuana user in Wisconsin would face criminal charges if caught with the illegal substance. [continues 421 words]
Among the casualties of the war on drugs are those who use marijuana to relieve their pain and suffering. Sean--not his real name--lives in Milwaukee County and smokes pot to help him cope with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other health problems. He walks with a crutch and his joints are stiff, but he manages to get around when he needs to, thanks to his use of marijuana as medicine. "I'm a bad spokesman for MS," he said. "Pot gives me energy. Usually people with MS are kind of out of it. I'm paralyzed on one side and it hurts to walk. But pot helps me get around. It makes me more flexible. I've tried different pain medications. Morphine is a joke compared to marijuana. Pot is a much better painkiller, without the nasty side effects." [continues 369 words]
More than 30 states passed medical marijuana bills in the 1970s and '80s, including Wisconsin, but all of those left the responsibility of supplying the marijuana up to the federal government. "A bill was passed in 1981 with overwhelming majorities in both houses," said Madison marijuana activist Gary Storck. "It was signed into law by Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus in 1982, but, unfortunately, it was kind of a watered-down law that required the federal government to supply the medical marijuana, which the state would then dispense to approved patients who had glaucoma or were undergoing cancer chemotherapy. The bill was basically rendered symbolic." [continues 309 words]
After some research into the effects of marijuana, you might just begin to be convinced it is a miracle medicine, perhaps even Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth. The beneficial effects among patients with everything from AIDS to Alzheimer's have been documented by doctors and scientists around the world. It was a legal medicine from mid 19th century and well into the 20th century. Tincture of cannabis - marijuana in alcohol - was available in pharmacies and recommended for a variety of circumstances - as an analgesic, muscle relaxant, anticonvulsant, for asthma and rheumatism, to ease labor pains, migraines and menstruation problems, to name a few of the most popular medical uses. [continues 411 words]
Marijuana activists, advocates and adventurers will converge on Madison Oct. 5-7 for the 37th Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. Political activist Ben Masel has been involved with the annual festival from the beginning. He was a fresh-faced freshman from New Jersey when he arrived in Madison to attend UW in 1971. "I just got to town as a freshman for that first one," he said. "It was more closely in context with the anti-war movement then." The Vietnam War ended and we've moved on to conduct wars in other parts of the world, but our internal war with marijuana goes on. [continues 753 words]
Mary Powers of Madison takes marijuana to relieve nausea caused by AIDS and cancer. Brian Barnstable of Milwaukee uses it to ease multiple sclerosis pain. Both patients can get the pot they smoke and bake with on the black market, but they say medical marijuana should be legal. "Why should it be so hard?" asked Powers, 48. That question was the focus of the 37th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival Saturday on State Street Mall. The event continues at 1 p.m. today, with a walk to the Capitol at 3 p.m. [continues 478 words]
By Gary Storck Dear Editor: Ten years ago The Capital Times published the first letter to the editor I ever wrote about medical marijuana. I wrote it days after meeting the medical marijuana "Journey for Justice" at the Capitol on Sept. 18, 1997. The journey was a 15-patient, 210-mile, seven-day, 4 mph wheelchair march from Mondovi, just south of Eau Claire, to the Capitol. It was led by a very determined woman named Jacki Rickert. We first met that day and have been friends ever since, trying to build awareness of what a difference this simple herb, cannabis, can make in seriously and chronically ill patients' lives. [continues 269 words]
Democratic Lawmakers Hope Law Will Get Passed This Time Around If medical marijuana legislation ever gets passed in Wisconsin, it will bear the name of Jacki Rickert of Mondovi - "if" being the operative word. "She's been an incredibly persistent pioneer. Her stamina amazes me," said Rep. Frank Boyle, D-Superior, who along with Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, introduced the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act at a news conference two weeks ago that went almost unnoticed. A similar bill, which would have provided for the legal use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, died in committee in March 2006. So did bills in the 2003, 2001 and 1997 legislative sessions. [continues 554 words]
The People Want Medical Marijuana, but Uncle Sam Is Hooked on Demonizing Weed Someone has been telling lies about Mary J. Take, for example, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's position paper on medical marijuana (www.usdoj.gov/dea/marijuana_position.html). The lies are so blatant and self-serving that if there were any political leadership in this country, the DEA's bloated budget would be frozen immediately while it undergoes investigation into whether the public that pays its $2.5 billion budget and employs its 11,000 workers is best served by the agency's current policies and practices. [continues 2533 words]
Dear Editor: Ten years ago The Capital Times published the first letter to the editor I ever wrote about medical marijuana. I wrote it days after meeting the medical marijuana "Journey for Justice" at the Capitol on Sept. 18, 1997. The journey was a 15-patient, 210-mile, seven-day, 4 mph wheelchair march from Mondovi, just south of Eau Claire, to the Capitol. It was led by a very determined woman named Jacki Rickert. We first met that day and have been friends ever since, trying to build awareness of what a difference this simple herb, cannabis, can make in seriously and chronically ill patients' lives. [continues 263 words]
A new medical marijuana bill named for Mondovi resident Jacki Rickert, a longtime Wisconsin medical cannabis patient-activist, will be introduced in the coming weeks. In a press conference Tuesday, Sept. 18, in the Senate Parlor at the State Capitol in Madison, State Reps. Frank Boyle (D-Superior) and Mark Pocan (D-Madison), announced they are planning to introduce "The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act" in early October, calling it Wisconsin's "most comprehensive medical marijuana legislation to date "I'm real proud that for the first time we are giving the bill a real name," Boyle said. "This bill will forever be known as the Jacki Rickert Bill." [continues 339 words]
Two state representatives and other protestors marched from Library Mall to the state Capitol on Tuesday. The legislators then introduced "the most complete medical marijuana legislation to date." Protestors marching for the legalization of medical marijuana made their way to the state Capitol yesterday, where two local legislators introduced the "Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act." The marchers were honoring the 210-mile journey of Jacki Rickert that took place in 1997, according to a release by the pro-marijuana group "Is My Medicine Legal YET?". [continues 130 words]
COMMENT: (1-4) Millions suffer needless pain because the laws and those who enforce them get between doctors and patients. Rarely some small belated justice points out how serious the issue is. Few newspapers have given coverage to the GAO report http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071018.pdf On the front page of the Wall Street Journal we find out that drug cartels find ways to conduct business despite any laws. Finally, almost every day Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speakers confront the traditional arguments supporting the war on drugs. [continues 6838 words]
Is your medicine legal? Jacki Rickert's isn't. The Wisconsin mother suffers from several incurable medical conditions and says the only effective treatment is marijuana. Rickert joined two state legislators and other medical marijuana supporters Tuesday for a press conference to announce the introduction of new medical marijuana legislation. Tuesday was a symbolic day for Rickert, as it marks the 10-year anniversary of the "Journey-for-Justice," a 210-mile trek across the state Rickert and an entourage of medical marijuana supporters made in their wheelchairs that ended at the Capitol. [continues 456 words]
