Pubdate: Wed, 16 Dec 2009
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2009 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact:  http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Patrick Marley
Referenced: The Assembly bill (the Senate bill is identical) 
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/AB-554.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jacki+Rickert
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - 
United States)

MEDICINAL POT BILL STIRS STRONG EMOTIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF ISSUE

Madison - In 1989, Jacki Rickert of Mondovi weighed just 68 pounds.

Marijuana helped her put on weight and relieve the symptoms of her 
connective tissue disorder, Rickert said Tuesday as she urged 
lawmakers to make the drug legal for medicinal purposes.

"When your doctor looks at you and says, 'If we cannot get weight on 
you... you will die' - that's what it comes down to, 'You will die' - 
you do whatever you have to do," Rickert, 58, told the Assembly and 
Senate health committees. "We've never wanted to break the law, but 
sometimes you have to."

Marijuana can cut her use of morphine in half to manage symptoms from 
Ehler-Danlos syndrome, she said.

Some Republicans on the committee blasted the bill, with Rep. Leah 
Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) saying advocates were using critically ill 
patients who filled the hearing room as a "facade."

"It's nothing more than a ruse for you to move forward for full 
legalization of marijuana," Vukmir said.

That comment drew boos from the crowd, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach 
(D-Waunakee), a bill author, insisted his goal was not to legalize 
marijuana for recreational use.

"People shouldn't have to break the law to get pot for their mom or 
dad or son....Republicans and Democrats are doing that right now - in 
your district, right in your backyard," Erpenbach told Vukmir.

Medical marijuana advocates are hopeful the bill will pass the 
Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), an author of the bill, has said he is 
confident the Assembly Public Health Committee will approve the bill 
and forward it to the full Assembly, and Senate Majority Leader Russ 
Decker (D-Weston) has signaled he is open to allowing a floor vote on 
the bill. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle supports allowing medical marijuana.

Supporters pointed to other signs helping their side, including a 
new, hands-off approach by the U.S. Department of Justice for 
marijuana dispensaries in states that allow them and a call last 
month by the American Medical Association for more research on 
medical marijuana.

Thirteen states allow medical marijuana, including Michigan, where 
voters approved the measure last year.

The Wisconsin bill would allow people with debilitating medical 
conditions to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy up to 3 ounces of 
marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries. Patients would have to get a 
written recommendation from a doctor and register with the state.

If patients bought marijuana on the street, they could use their 
medical condition as a defense at trial.

Patients would not be allowed to drive or operate heavy machinery 
while under the influence of marijuana. They could not smoke it in 
schools, parks and many other public places.

The bill would cover people with cancer, AIDS, Crohn's disease, 
hepatitis C, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and 
other serious ailments.

Van Hollen Opposition

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen opposes the bill, saying 
it would invite people to violate federal drug laws and make it 
difficult to prosecute state cases.

"Make no mistake, the marijuana possession permitted by the bill to a 
user or caregiver is illegal under federal law, with penalties of up 
to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000," Van Hollen 
said in written testimony to the committee.

Those charged with marijuana could more easily thwart prosecution in 
state court by claiming they had a medical condition, even if they 
were not on the state registry, Van Hollen said.

"If the bills are enacted as drafted, law enforcement's and 
prosecutors' ability to enforce what would still be illegal is 
seriously disabled...," Van Hollen said.

Supporters said the bill included strict controls to avoid the 
loopholes in California's medical marijuana law that have allowed 
easier access to the drug for recreational use.

The bill is the "most comprehensive and responsible legislation in 
the country," said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for 
the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a group that pushes for medical marijuana.

Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) questioned how tightly the bill was 
written, noting the state Department of Health Services said 2.6 
million state residents - or nearly half of Wisconsin's population - 
have medical conditions that could qualify them for the state 
registry. The agency estimated a much smaller number - 1,700 to 
17,000 - would actually sign up for the registry based on what's 
happened in other states with medical marijuana laws.

"That is not really a narrow scope on this bill if half the citizens 
of the state would qualify to use medical marijuana," Strachota said.

Michael Miller, a physician, told lawmakers the Wisconsin Medical 
Society opposed the bill because drug approvals should be based on 
science and left to the federal Food and Drug Administration.

"This is not the way to approve a new medicine," Miller said.

Marijuana is not a very strong painkiller, he said. Patients who need 
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, to spur their appetite or 
combat nausea can get a prescription to Marinol, a synthetic version 
of the drug, he said.

Miller stressed the dangers of smoking the drug and said that is the 
primary way patients would use it, despite claims by advocates that 
many would eat it, or vaporize it and then inhale it.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake