MEDICINAL POT BILL STIRS STRONG EMOTIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF ISSUE

Madison - In 1989, Jacki Rickert of Mondovi weighed just 68 pounds.

Marijuana helped her put on weight and relieve the symptoms of her
connective tissue disorder, Rickert said Tuesday as she urged
lawmakers to make the drug legal for medicinal purposes.

"When your doctor looks at you and says, 'If we cannot get weight on
you... you will die' - that's what it comes down to, 'You will die' -
you do whatever you have to do," Rickert, 58, told the Assembly and
Senate health committees. "We've never wanted to break the law, but
sometimes you have to."

Marijuana can cut her use of morphine in half to manage symptoms from
Ehler-Danlos syndrome, she said.

Some Republicans on the committee blasted the bill, with Rep. Leah
Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) saying advocates were using critically ill
patients who filled the hearing room as a "facade."

"It's nothing more than a ruse for you to move forward for full
legalization of marijuana," Vukmir said.

That comment drew boos from the crowd, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach
(D-Waunakee), a bill author, insisted his goal was not to legalize
marijuana for recreational use.

"People shouldn't have to break the law to get pot for their mom or
dad or son....Republicans and Democrats are doing that right now - in
your district, right in your backyard," Erpenbach told Vukmir.

Medical marijuana advocates are hopeful the bill will pass the
Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), an author of the bill, has said he is
confident the Assembly Public Health Committee will approve the bill
and forward it to the full Assembly, and Senate Majority Leader Russ
Decker (D-Weston) has signaled he is open to allowing a floor vote on
the bill. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle supports allowing medical marijuana.

Supporters pointed to other signs helping their side, including a
new, hands-off approach by the U.S. Department of Justice for
marijuana dispensaries in states that allow them and a call last
month by the American Medical Association for more research on
medical marijuana.

Thirteen states allow medical marijuana, including Michigan, where
voters approved the measure last year.

The Wisconsin bill would allow people with debilitating medical
conditions to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy up to 3 ounces of
marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries. Patients would have to get a
written recommendation from a doctor and register with the state.

If patients bought marijuana on the street, they could use their
medical condition as a defense at trial.

Patients would not be allowed to drive or operate heavy machinery
while under the influence of marijuana. They could not smoke it in
schools, parks and many other public places.

The bill would cover people with cancer, AIDS, Crohn's disease,
hepatitis C, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and
other serious ailments.

Van Hollen Opposition

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen opposes the bill, saying
it would invite people to violate federal drug laws and make it
difficult to prosecute state cases.

"Make no mistake, the marijuana possession permitted by the bill to a
user or caregiver is illegal under federal law, with penalties of up
to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000," Van Hollen
said in written testimony to the committee.

Those charged with marijuana could more easily thwart prosecution in
state court by claiming they had a medical condition, even if they
were not on the state registry, Van Hollen said.

"If the bills are enacted as drafted, law enforcement's and
prosecutors' ability to enforce what would still be illegal is
seriously disabled...," Van Hollen said.

Supporters said the bill included strict controls to avoid the
loopholes in California's medical marijuana law that have allowed
easier access to the drug for recreational use.

The bill is the "most comprehensive and responsible legislation in
the country," said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for
the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a group that pushes for medical marijuana.

Rep. Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) questioned how tightly the bill was
written, noting the state Department of Health Services said 2.6
million state residents - or nearly half of Wisconsin's population -
have medical conditions that could qualify them for the state
registry. The agency estimated a much smaller number - 1,700 to
17,000 - would actually sign up for the registry based on what's
happened in other states with medical marijuana laws.

"That is not really a narrow scope on this bill if half the citizens
of the state would qualify to use medical marijuana," Strachota said.

Michael Miller, a physician, told lawmakers the Wisconsin Medical
Society opposed the bill because drug approvals should be based on
science and left to the federal Food and Drug Administration.

"This is not the way to approve a new medicine," Miller said.

Marijuana is not a very strong painkiller, he said. Patients who need
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, to spur their appetite or
combat nausea can get a prescription to Marinol, a synthetic version
of the drug, he said.

Miller stressed the dangers of smoking the drug and said that is the
primary way patients would use it, despite claims by advocates that
many would eat it, or vaporize it and then inhale it.