CONFISCATED MARIJUANA DESCRIBED AS MEDICINE

Ailing Mondovi Woman Now Fears Criminal Charges

Jacki Rickert freely admits she smokes marijuana.

The 48-year-old Mondovi woman, who uses a wheelchair because of
debilitating illness, said marijuana helps her cope with excruciating pain.

Now, she could be facing drug charges after Mondovi police on Tuesday
searched her home and confiscated marijuana and drug paraphernalia that
Rickert said she needs for medicinal purposes.

The incident began when Rickert called police to report the theft of
morphine from her home. When an officer came to her home about 11:30 p.m.
Monday, Rickert admitted there was marijuana inside, so the officer got a
search warrant and returned at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Police left her home about seven hours later.

"I was stunned. I don't think I'm a criminal," Rickert said by telephone
Tuesday afternoon.

Mondovi Police Chief Terry Pittman said Rickert was not arrested but could
face drug charges. Reports of the incident will be turned over by the end
of the week to the Buffalo County district attorney, who will decide
whether charges will be filed.

In the meantime, Rickert said, she is devastated by the search of her home
and the possibility she could end up in court. She suffers from
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, and reflex
sympathetic dystrophy. She has lost much of her muscle and fatty tissue,
and her joints dislocate easily, her daughter said.

"She's terrified," said her daughter, Tammy, 28. "They've gone through her
whole house and treated her like a criminal. She's just trying to maintain
a certain quality of life. She doesn't sell marijuana; it's her medicine."

Rickert said that in the early 1990s, she was allowed to participate in a
program in which the federal government issued marijuana cigarettes for
medicinal purposes. But the program folded before she received marijuana
from the government, she said.

Marijuana's active ingredients belong to a chemical family called
cannabinoids, which studies and clinical results suggest are useful for
control of chronic pain, relief of nausea and vomiting, and stimulation of
appetite in people who, like Rickert, have lost weight because of diseases.

Rickert is able to live on her own but relies on caregivers for help. Her
only income is from monthly disability payments; her medications, which
include morphine and muscle relaxants, are paid for through Medicaid.

She wonders how she will pay for a lawyer if criminal charges are filed.

"Let's just say at the end of the month, a lot of times people eat
Hamburger Helper. Well, sometimes it's 'Helper Helper,' " she said.

Pittman, who did not know how much marijuana was seized, said he is aware
that Rickert told officers she smoked the drug to cope with pain. But he
pointed out that possession of marijuana is against the law.

"It's still illegal. This officer had a job to do, and that's what she
did," said Pittman, who has been chief for 12 years. "By the person even
admitting there was marijuana, police officers had a job to do, and it's
going to take somebody higher up than me to legalize it."

Mae Nutt, a friend of Rickert's and an outspoken advocate of medicinal use
of marijuana, said there are misconceptions about patients who smoke pot to
relieve nausea and pain.

"People think that they're getting high, but that's not true," said Nutt,
who lost two sons to cancer.

Those who use marijuana for medicinal purposes "are just ordinary plain
people like Jacki," Nutt said.

Before Rickert began smoking marijuana - she prefers the term cannabis -
she weighed 68 pounds. She now weighs 98 pounds and uses marijuana to
relieve chronic pain and give her an appetite.

"When you weigh 68 pounds, your quality of life is pretty rotten. My
daughter used to have to carry me around piggyback from room to room,"
Rickert said.

"I don't abuse cannabis. I use it as I would any other of my medications.
It's just that this one was created by God and not a big moneymaker for
big, greedy corporations, so that's where the illegality comes in."

The following links to articles and webpages are supplied by MAP, and are
not a part of the above news item:

News articles about Jackie from the MAP archives:

US WI: State Residents Join Marijuana Protest
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1275/a06.html

US DC: State Medical Pot Advocates Involved In DC Protest
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1165/a08.html

US: Wire: Medical Marijuana Use Advocates Stage Protest
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1146/a01.html

US WI: Wisconsin Marchers Wheel Into Madison
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n002/a09.html

Patients Favoring Medicinal Marijuana Begin Wheelchair ''March''
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97/n419/a05.html

Editorial: Let's Separate Health, Politics
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97/n419/a03.html

Woman Seeking To Use Marijuana Gets Support For Madison
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97/n400/a06.html

Painful Journey
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97/n318/a03.html

Woman Plans Wheelchair Ride To Say She Needs Marijuana For Her
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v97/n294/a02.html

Webpages:

DPFWI members lobby in D.C.!
http://www.drugsense.org/dpfwi/dpfwi_dc.htm

Journey for Justice II Wisconsin - Mondovi to Madison
http://www.gnv.fdt.net/~jrdawson/justice2.htm