Despite more support for the legislation than ever before among Wisconsin lawmakers, an ongoing effort to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state appears to be headed nowhere. Even with unprecedented public support and backing from more members of the Legislature than at any time in history, sponsors admit the bill is likely to fail again. So far, 21 states have legalized and established a system to regulate marijuana for medical purposes. In Wisconsin, a version of the bill failed in 2009 after a dramatic public showdown between state Sens. Leah Vukmir and Jon Erpenbach, and another version died in committee in 2012. [continues 1851 words]
Two freshman Republican lawmakers from Fond du Lac, Sen. Rick Gudex and Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, sponsored legislation that would find more ways to punish Wisconsinites and state visitors caught with small amounts of pot. SB 150 and AB 164 allow municipalities to prosecute marijuana cases the local district attorney has determined are not worth prosecution. There have been committee hearings in both houses with state medical cannabis and marijuana reform groups testifying against. The Assembly committee vote was 5-3 in favor on a party-line vote. [continues 140 words]
Opponents of a bill that would allow marijuana use for medical purposes in Wisconsin say there's not enough evidence the change is needed in the state. Introduced by state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, the proposed Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act would give patients with various chronic conditions the option to get a prescription for the drug from their doctors. However, the issue, which previously failed to gain traction when Democratic lawmakers introduced the bill a few years ago, is not a topic of discussion at the Capitol, said state Rep. Scott Krug, R-Wisconsin Rapids, who does not support the legislation. [continues 529 words]
Don't Want to Get Your Pot From Criminals? You Have a Choice: Become A Criminal Yourself It is a clear early spring evening, and Jack is walking along the perimeter of his south Madison property, pointing out where he grows marijuana. "You really have to look to see it," says Jack, a pseudonym. Jack is middle-aged, with trimmed, spiky gray-white hair and fluid, animated gestures; there is something slightly Steve Martin-adorable about him. A playful golden retriever nuzzles his hand, trying to get his attention. He lives in a beige, vinyl-sided house near a golf course, next door to a house that boasts a Prosser lawn sign, from the recent Supreme Court race. [continues 2800 words]
Twenty supporters of medical marijuana picketed outside the Madison Club Tuesday night to protest a fundraiser for a state senator who voted against a bill to legalize the practice. Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Milladore, voted against the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act after hearing testimony from over 100 patients and medical organizations in 2009. The bill would have exempted Wisconsin citizens dependent on marijuana as a medicine from federal and state laws regarding marijuana possession, said Gary Storck, spokesperson for the Madison division of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. [continues 427 words]
Speakers Say Drug Beneficial for Medical Treatment; Urge Listeners Not to 'Light Up' At Gathering In what has become an annual fall tradition in Madison, advocates for the legalization of medical cannabis marched down State Street Sunday in the 40th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. Thousands attended to support the efforts for the legalization of medical marijuana; most attendees eventually marched down State Street and finished the weekend with a rally at the Capitol's steps. A visible line of police monitored the crowd throughout the day. [continues 438 words]
Rejection of Wisconsin Medical Marijuana Bill Was a Profile in Cowardice Jason Glaspie did everything he could. The former Marine, a veteran of the first Iraq war, has endured numerous treatments for brain and spinal cancer that left him disabled and often in terrible pain. One thing that alleviates his suffering is smoking marijuana. And so when it looked as though Wisconsin might join the 14 other states (and the District of Columbia) that allow the medicinal use of cannabis, Glaspie became an activist for the cause. [continues 734 words]
Veterans and others managing post traumatic stress report that medical marijuana can help in ways conventional medications cannot, without the toxicity, side effects and interactions. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, showed true support for vets and other PTSD sufferers by including it among qualifying debilitating medical conditions in the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act. Unfortunately, the bill died in committee like so many others before it. In 2007, New Mexico also faced the end of session without passing a medical marijuana bill long in the works. Gov. Bill Richardson persuaded wavering lawmakers to come back and pass it, making New Mexico the first state to pass a bill specifically including PTSD, and the 12th state to OK medical marijuana. [continues 85 words]
If the Wisconsin legislature passes the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (Assembly bill 554, Senate bill 368), it will become legal for Wisconsinites to use the drug for medicinal purposes. But does this go far enough? Studies have shown that medicinal cannabis can help a number of illnesses: glaucoma, Tourette syndrome and Crohn's disease, just to name a few. And this doesn't mean that there's a bunch of sick people walking around lighting up joints all the time. Cannabis can be made into other forms, as well. [continues 317 words]
If Assembly Bill 554 is voted into law, Wisconsin would be the 15th state to legalized medical marijuana. Area residents who support the bill, also known as the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA), are hoping that the state legislature will vote in favor of the bill before it ends regular business on April 22. Among the supporters of this bill is Gary Storck, president of Wisconsin NORML and director of communications of Is My Medicine Legal Yet? Storck, who has congenital open-angle glaucoma, has been an advocate of medical marijuana for over 25 years. [continues 584 words]
Medicinal Marijuana Gives Relief To Ailing Pats The Wisconsin legislature is considering a bill that would legalize medical marijuana for patients with "debilitating medical conditions." Other states have passed similar legislation with compassion of their residents in mind. This bill has been dubbed the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, named after a local patient who has been at the head of the medical marijuana movement for close to 20 years. The bill is about compassion for the sick. Rickert's message, "This Bill This Time," is made clearer through the questions she asks: "How am I a criminal? Where is the compassion? Is My Medicine Legal Yet?" That last one is also the name of her organization (www.immly.org). [continues 732 words]
Amid Indian drumbeats and singing, protesters on the Capitol steps Tuesday sent a prayer to the heavens and to the Wisconsin Legislature, asking for the right to use their medicine -- marijuana. The Day of Prayer for Compassion ceremony, hosted by legalization advocacy groups Is My Medicine Legal YET and the Wisconsin branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, met to help convince members of the Senate and Assembly to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal reasons. [continues 1434 words]
Fred Clark is a great representative, but I disagree with his saying that Rep. Keith Ripp (R-Lodi) entered the legislature with a more nonpartisan attitude than may have existed before, "Dells mayor to challenge Clark in Assembly." If so, why would Ripp refuse to support current state medical marijuana legislation that would allow Wisconsinites with debilitating medical conditions to use cannabis? One of the bill's qualifying conditions is post-traumatic stress disorder. Due to heavy deployments and two wars, millions of veterans are suffering from PTSD. Rep. Ripp has many constituents who are veterans with PTSD and find relief with cannabis instead of toxic medications not suitable or safe for long-term use. [continues 119 words]
The sponsors of the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, Rep. Mark Pocan and Sen. Jon Erpenbach, showed support for veterans by including post-traumatic stress disorder in the bill. While PTSD affects people from all walks of life, multiple deployments and two major wars have meant millions of vets have this affliction in varying degrees. I visited the Capitol with a 26-year-old ex-Marine who served three tours in Iraq and now feels like he's gone from "hero to zero." The medications the VA provides treat his symptoms but leave him feeling empty and sedated. Worse, users risk side effects including organ damage, cancer and tremors. [continues 103 words]
There is a medical marijuana bill in committee in the Wisconsin Legislature. We need the people's help to get it passed by calling their politicians in Madison. It's being held there by representatives who are good people but under-informed. What we are asking for in not a pot-smokers' law. Many of us vaporize it or eat it, which gives us the cannibnoids that help fight obesity, cancers, fibromyalgia, phantom pains and muscle spasms from paraplegia and other neuromuscular ailments. [continues 93 words]
On Saturday, February 6, a crowd gathered at the Berlin Library from noon to 3 p.m. to attend the T.H.C. Expo ("Talking Hemp and Cannabis") to learn about Wisconsin's Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA) that was introduced by Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison), Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and a number of other legislators in November 2009 and is currently being reviewed by the Committee on Public Health in both the assembly and the senate. Assembly Bill 554/Senate Bill 368, similar to the medical marijuana bill that passed in Michigan in November of 2008, would make it legal for those who have certain illnesses or diseases to purchase and use marijuana for medicinal purposes when prescribed by a physician.. [continues 348 words]
Dear Editor: The grass-roots advocacy campaign for medical marijuana in Wisconsin has ignited a firestorm of interest in how state government works. Thousands and thousands of state residents are learning for the first time who represents them because of the popularity of this issue. A recent ABC news poll found that nationwide, 81 percent of Americans, and 72 percent of Republicans, want medical marijuana legalized. The question remains, however, will our Legislature listen to the will of the people? To their credit, many state lawmakers have already signaled they will vote for the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act. However, the lack of bipartisan support for a decidedly nonpartisan issue is sad. [continues 191 words]
DrugSense recognizes Patrick Brumm of Madison, Wisconsin for his three letters published during January. Patrick is a new letter writer who wrote during the month in support of the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act. You may read his letters at http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Patrick+Brumm [end]
The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act is currently being debated in our state Legislature. It would enable licensed physicians to prescribe small amounts of marijuana to be used by severely ill patients to treat certain diseases and to manage pain. It has strict penalties for recreational use of marijuana, as well as for sale and usage of the drug by minors. Opponents of the act claim that medicinal use of marijuana is unnecessary, since there are synthetic drugs with THC (the medicinal component of the cannabis plant). They are obviously not familiar with Steve Kubby, the Libertarian activist who has used medical marijuana for more than 30 years to successfully treat his adrenal cancer. He was given Marinol (a THC synthetic), while in prison for drug possession in California. The Marinol nearly gave him a fatal heart attack, along with nausea and loss of appetite. Widespread public outcry over Kubby's bad treatment in prison led to his release. [continues 77 words]
The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act allows for medical cannabis to treat post traumatic stress disorder. In 2007, Dr. Christopher Fichtner, who was section chief for PTSD Hines V.A. Hospital in Illinois, spoke in support of medical cannabis. He said when he began working with veterans who had PTSD, he was initially opposed to cannabis use. But use of medical cannabis is harm reduction for those who self-medicate with alcohol. Abuse of alcohol kills. No one dies of a cannabis overdose. [continues 124 words]
