SUPREME COURT NIXES MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling against medical marijuana dealt an emotional
blow to a seriously ill Wisconsin woman. It also irked some state
legislators, who hope Wisconsin will join nine other states in endorsing
limited use of the drug for those with a medical need.

"It was definitely a huge shock to hear that that many people on the court
of the land that I love so much could just kick patients to the curb, so to
speak," said Jacki Rickert of Mondovi, who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos
syndrome and reflexive sympathetic dystrophy. The illnesses keep her in
pain and unable to eat.

"I'm just so angry, I'm almost shaking. I feel I've had my wheelchair
kicked out from under me," said Rickert, executive director of the group,
"Is My Medicine Legal Yet?"

Rickert, who weighs about 90 pounds, was arrested last year when Mondovi
police raided her home and confiscated marijuana. The Buffalo County
district attorney later declined to press charges.

The nation's high court ruled Monday, 8-0, that there are no exceptions for
sick patients to a federal law classifying marijuana as illegal. "It is
clear from the text of the (controlled substances law) that Congress has
made a determination that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an
exception," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court.

Justice Stephen Breyer didn't participate because his brother, a federal
district judge, presided over the case.

The decision reversed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that
medical necessity can be a legal defense in marijuana cases.

The federal government triggered the case in 1998, seeking an injunction
against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative and five other marijuana
distributors.

The high court did not strike down state laws allowing medical use of
marijuana but left those distributing the drug for that purpose open to
prosecution. The nine states that have endorsed limited use of marijuana
are Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon
and Washington.

Given Monday's ruling, now might be the time for Congress to rewrite the
U.S. Controlled Substances Act, said state Rep. Rick Skindrud, R- Mount Horeb.

"It's kind of disgusting the court ruled this way, but I think they had to,
given the way the federal law is written," Skindrud said. "However, this
might prove that the people in Washington should get off their butts and
rewrite the laws."

Skindrud has been invited to be the lead sponsor of a Wisconsin medical
marijuana bill drafted by two Democrats, Rep. Frank Boyle of Superior and
Rep. Mark Pocan of Madison. The as-yet unintroduced bill is roughly modeled
after Hawaii's legalized marijuana law, which gives doctors the authority
to give patients registration certificates to use marijuana to ease pain
caused by debilitating diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

"I think it's unfortunate the Supreme Court used faulty logic, following
along with the drug war, rather than the logic we've been using, which is
that this is a health care issue," Pocan said. "It can help people with
wasting conditions or glaucoma. It's useful for some patients, who can't
keep down a pill but can utilize a smoked drug."

Pocan added, "The question will be, at what level do states have state's
rights in this area. It's not clear to me how this will affect those (nine)
states. We'll have to see exactly what the Supreme Court decision means. It
may mean we need a change at the federal level (of the law) to allow states
that have those laws to retain them."

Justice John Paul Stevens, in a concurring opinion joined by two
colleagues, said the court majority went too far. It should have left open
the possibility that a person could raise a medical necessity defense,
especially a patient "for whom there is no alternative means of avoiding
starvation or extraordinary suffering," he wrote.

He said the ruling could lead to friction between the federal government
and the states with medical marijuana laws.

Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense for Drug Policy, a pro-medical
marijuana group in Washington, D.C., said the court's decision will
heighten conflict. "Caregivers for the seriously ill will continue to
provide medical marijuana, thus the federal government will have to enforce
the law before juries where over 70 percent of the population voted for
medical marijuana," he said.

The court's ruling is consistent with the policy of the State Medical
Society of Wisconsin, said president-elect Dr. Mark Andrew, a surgeon. "It
doesn't seem at this point that research has proven that the benefits (of
smoking medical marijuana) outweigh the risks of drug addiction or of
cancer," Andrew said. "The decision just dealt with smoking. There are
other forms of marijuana derivatives - pills and aerosols - so they can
still be used."

Gina Dennik-Champion, president of the Wisconsin Nurses Association, called
the ruling "a step back for patients who could really benefit from its use."