TIME TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

It is time that Wisconsin has a serious debate about legalizing
marijuana for medicinal purposes. If the state engages in a serious,
factual debate that is not derailed by ideology and political
posturing, the State Legislature will have the compassion and
humanity to legalize the drug for patients.

A bill sponsored by two Democratic state lawmakers, Sen. Jon
Erpenbach and Rep. Mark Pocan, will have a public hearing in the
Assembly and the Senate on Dec. 15 and possibly come up for a vote in January.

"This issue is first and foremost about compassion," Pocan said in
unveiling the bill this week. "A patient and their doctor should have
as many options as possible available when treating a patient's condition."

It is also worth noting that former Rep. Gregg Underheim, an Oshkosh
Republican, first sponsored a medical marijuana bill in 2006.

There is incontrovertible and overwhelming scientific research that
shows marijuana can relieve the pain from a variety of chronic
conditions and ease the side affects of cancer and HIV treatments.
The fact that 14 states - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode
Island, Vermont and Washington - presently allow some use of
marijuana for medical purposes should give Wisconsin lawmakers
courage to overcome the knee jerk reaction that will inevitability
oppose the thought legalizing the drug.

We are confident that as proposed, the bill has the requisite
safeguards to prevent the abuse of marijuana. Those safeguards
include requiring physician's prescription and a well-defined list of
medical conditions for which the drug could be prescribed. The law
also requires that distribution of the drug would be regulated by the
state. Additionally, users would be registered with the state
Department of Health Services and would not be allowed to drive or
operate heavy machinery while under the influence of medical
marijuana. And the bill specifies a maximum amount of marijuana a
patient may have.

The time is right for Wisconsin to act on legalizing marijuana for
medical use. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said recently that the
Justice Department would not enforce federal drug laws in states that
permit medicinal use of marijuana and Gov. Jim Doyle said he would
sign the bill if passed by the legislature.

The legislature should pass the bill. It makes no sense to ban a drug
that has proven to be medically beneficial when physicians are
legally prescribing more toxic and addictive drugs.