Traditional Methods of Treatment May Not Be Enough for Some Abusers

ONEIDA -- The line Ron Hill draws to represent the history of his people is absurdly short given that it stretches from "creation" to present time, but it's enough to make his point.

"We have to go all the way back to the beginning," said Hill, a cultural wellness facilitator for the Oneida Tribe of Indians. "The emphasis on creation -- they're not just stories. There's a lot of meaning that still applies today."

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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.

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A former Clark County district attorney charged with growing marijuana in the basement of his former Neillsville home pleaded guilty Thursday.

Sentencing for Gene B. Radcliffe, 55, has been set for Dec. 19 in Clark County Court.

Radcliffe served one term as district attorney in the late 1970s and later worked many years at a Black River Falls bank. He was charged with a felony court of manufacturing marijuana and misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint:

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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.

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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.

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Police Identified Suspect, But No Charges Were Ever Filed In Amos Mortier Case

In the front room of her small east side home, Margie Milutinovich skims computer records she's compiled over the nearly three years of searching for her son, Amos Mortier. "Missing" posters hang on the walls. Notes, timelines and piles of court records are scattered on a desk.

"Should I put on the coffee?" Milutinovich asks a reporter. "Once you get started, it's hard to keep anything straight."

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Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Frank Boyle, D-Superior, recently introduced legislation that would legalize medicinal marijuana in Wisconsin. We urge the state to lift its ban and pass the bill.

Messrs. Boyle and Pocan introduced similar legislation in 2001. It failed then and two more times in 2003 and 2005 despite the addition of a Republican sponsor -- former Oshkosh Rep. Gregg Underheim.

The influence of the "war on drugs" has convinced our elected officials that pain treatment for AIDS, cancer and glaucoma victims comes secondary to the threat of drug dealers abusing the system. They live in an alternate reality where dealers aren't easily accessible and those who seek marijuana's medicinal benefits are not tempted to help fuel a vast underground economy. Seriously ill patients deserve a legal avenue to acquire their preferred painkiller.

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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."

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Hispanics, too, sent to prison more than whites, study finds

African-Americans and Hispanics convicted of drug trafficking in Wisconsin are more likely to wind up in prison than white drug dealers, according to a report on race and sentencing by the state Sentencing Commission.

Compared with whites, Hispanics are 2 1/2 times as likely to be imprisoned, while blacks are nearly twice as likely to end up behind bars for dealing drugs, according to the report issued last month.

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First, it was reported that a violent street gang calling itself the Punishers was operating within the Milwaukee Police Department.

Now we learn a Milwaukee police officer accused repeatedly of using excessive force and planting drugs on citizens, instead of being disciplined or terminated, received a promotion.

When we hired Milwaukee police officers to go after crime kingpins, we didn't realize it would turn out to be an inside job.

Milwaukee's blue crime wave should settle once and for all whether police can be trusted to police their own. They can't.

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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?".

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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.

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Bold headlines proclaiming "Seduction of the Innocent," "Marijuana: Weed From the Devil's Garden" and "Menace to U.S. Youth" provide the backdrop to Mercury Players Theatre's production of "Reefer Madness," a musical comedy about drugs, sex, mayhem and murder.

Although this is the musical's Wisconsin premiere, "Reefer Madness" has a history that dates back to a 1936 film originally titled "Tell Your Children," an anti-drug propaganda piece that overemphasized the consequences of smoking marijuana. Contrary to its intent, the renamed film later became a cult hit in the 1960s and '70s, particularly among college students. In the last decade, "Reefer Madness" was rewritten as a musical parody and in 2005 released as a Showtime movie starring Kristen Bell and Alan Cumming.

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Dear Editor: The headline "UW trying to get alcohol message across" ran atop the story about UW's steps to inform incoming freshmen about alcohol dangers. I suspect UW-Madison pays lip service to the dangers and takes affirmative and passive measures to get a consumption of alcohol message across.

Has there been any research to show what the alcohol industry means to the university in terms of financial support and student employment? If there is any doubt about the city of Madison's position on the effects of alcohol -- check out the Metro bus sporting the full body paint beer ad: "Drink Miller Genuine Draft!!!"

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Union officials say Dane County prosecutors are guilty of "an unconscionable abuse of power " for bringing drug charges against two state parole agents based on the claims of a convicted felon and despite a review of their actions by the Department of Corrections that partially cleared the two.

"There is literally no physical evidence (of drug use) whatsoever, " said Tom Corcoran, president of American Federations of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2748, which represents the state 's probation and parole agents. "They are being crucified for having made the mistake of having too much to drink (at a party) in May 2006. "

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Methadone, Available in Madison, Is a Horrible Drug That Is Detrimental to Society in General.

Two locations in Madison distribute drugs to recovering heroin addicts: one on East Washington and the other on Ann Street. These clinics give out methadone and suboxone, two substances that work like opiates on the brain, binding to the same receptors as heroin and oxycontin. The belief is that these substitute drugs will slowly allow addicts to withdraw from their dependency and help them to re-enter society.

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Gangs are on the rise in Sheboygan.

Though the groups are less visible and the members less violent than their big-city counterparts, Sheboygan gang-bangers are nevertheless a growing threat that police say now number 1,000 members strong.

"Over the last two years we've seen a very large spike in the gangs showing up in Sheboygan -- the number of gangs (is) significantly rising," said Officer Paul Olsen of the Sheboygan Police Department's Street Crimes Unit. "Hopefully we can get a handle on it and prevent it from getting worse. However, with our current situation of resources and where we allocate our time and investigations, it's hard to say what it's going to be five or 10 years from now."

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RACINE -- Three teenagers caught with stolen marijuana plants in their car last week now face drug charges.

[Name redacted], 17, [Name redacted], 19, and [Name redacted], 18, all of Racine, are charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. If convicted, they could face up to $10,000 in fines, 3 1/2 years imprisonment and driver's license revocation. [Name redacted] also faces a charge of maintaining a drug trafficking place. That charge carries a maximum penalty of $10,000 in fines, 3 1/2 years imprisonment and license revocation.

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Maybe the "stop snitching" movement isn't as pervasive as some first believed.

That's the impression you get after hearing the Milwaukee Police Department admit its impressive clearance rate for homicides lately can be attributed in part to the willingness of the public to cooperate with police to help solve crimes.

Everybody recognizes that most homicides in town are black-on-black crime. But some also believe the frustrating inability to get things under control is linked to the refusal of African-American residents living in violent neighborhoods to help cops put the bad guys behind bars.

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Suspects Have Accused Sgt. Jason Mucha 10 Times of Beating Them or Planting Drugs. He Wasn't Disciplined, but Courts Took Notice.

Jason Mucha has wanted to be a police detective since he was in high school.

He started building his resume upon graduation, becoming a Milwaukee police aide more than 10 years ago. He has worked in some of the city's toughest neighborhoods and made sergeant at 26.

But Mucha has built a resume of another kind.

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