Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI) Copyright: 2001 Madison Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506 Author: Sarah Wyatt MARIJUANA USERS LAUD DRUG'S MEDICAL BENEFITS Jacki Rickert says she is tired of risking arrest every time she smokes marijuana to treat the pain and loss of appetite caused by a tissue disorder and degenerative bone marrow disease. Rickert testified Tuesday before the Assembly State Affairs Committee, which held a hearing to gather information on the merits and pitfalls of medical marijuana, committee Chairman Rep. Rick Skindrud, R-Mount Horeb, said. Rickert, executive director of the group ``Is My Medicine Legal Yet?'' testified that marijuana has been more helpful than any of the other drugs she has tried, including morphine. Rickert, of Mondovi, said her weight dropped down to 68 pounds and cannabis -- or marijuana -- has been the only drug that has been substantially effective in increasing her weight. She said it allows her to take half the amount of drugs she would otherwise. ``You have a few puffs, when it works, you put it out. That's not something you can do with a pill, that's not something you can do with a liquid,'' she said. ``I don't sit down and get high or anything that everyone talks about. I do this to have an appetite, to be able to have a quality of life.'' Dr. Michael Miller, president of the Dane County Medical Society, said there is insufficient medical evidence showing that smoked marijuana is effective in treating the symptoms of various diseases. Legalizing smoked marijuana could be a detriment to society by making more people addicted to the drug, he said. ``Medical marijuana is an oxymoron,'' he said. ``Smoked marijuana is not medicine. . . . Wait until the science catches up.'' The State Medical Society is now opposed to any bills that would legalize smoked marijuana, Miller said. The Wisconsin Nurses Association supports legalized marijuana but has not specified how it is best used -- taken orally as a pill, inhaled using an inhaler, or smoked, said association president Gina Dennik-Champion. Dane County Sheriff Gary Hamblin said law enforcement should defer to the medical community to evaluate and conduct reliable, significant research about whether marijuana has medicinal effects. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer