WILL LEGISLATURE LOOK AT MEDICAL MARIJUANA?

The headline of Tuesday's editorial about cleaning up state politics
- -- "No more excuses for Legislature" -- could also easily apply to
medical marijuana. Polling has long established that a majority of
voters support legal access to medical marijuana.

Some of the "bums" the voters "threw out" were anti-medical marijuana
zealots. In the 2005 to 2006 session, AB 740 became the fourth medical
marijuana bill to die in committee without a vote since 1997.

Each year, there are an estimated 36,000 new cases of cancer in
Wisconsin and around 11,000 people die from it. Add in patients with
multiple sclerosis, AIDS, glaucoma and many other medical conditions,
and we are talking about thousands of citizens who will benefit if the
Legislature will only listen to the people.

As a medical marijuana advocate and patient, I field calls from
patients and family members seeking information. Sadly, I have to
counsel them that patients and their caregivers still risk arrest and
jail if they try to get and use cannabis for medical purposes.

The legislature should pass Senate Bill 1 and start the cleanup of
state politics. And Senate Bill 2 ought to be a medical marijuana
bill, passed quickly with the mercy, compassion and respect our sick
and dying citizens deserve.

Gary Storck

communications director, Is My Medicine Legal YET?, Madison