LAWMAKERS TO SICK PEOPLE: WE DON'T CARE

Rejection of Wisconsin Medical Marijuana Bill Was a Profile in Cowardice

Jason Glaspie did everything he could. The former Marine, a veteran
of the first Iraq war, has endured numerous treatments for brain and
spinal cancer that left him disabled and often in terrible pain. One
thing that alleviates his suffering is smoking marijuana.

And so when it looked as though Wisconsin might join the 14 other
states (and the District of Columbia) that allow the medicinal use of
cannabis, Glaspie became an activist for the cause.

The Fitchburg resident attended hearings and events held in support
of the proposed bill. He starred in a TV commercial on the issue and
let his story be told in the press. And, in the end, like hundreds of
other people in Wisconsin, he was bitterly disappointed. The bill
died in the just-ended legislative session after state lawmakers
failed to bring it forward for a vote.

"The bill's failure to pass forces patients to make the horrible
choice between [enduring pain] and being a criminal," says Glaspie.
"I should not have to fear prosecution just because I want to move
around without my cane. People with chronic health issues have enough
on their plates without adding more fear."

But fear is what they are left with. The political structure of the
state of Wisconsin has given them the back of their hand. Again.

Just ask former Marine Sgt. Erin Silbaugh (videos here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ2-q5q3zTk and here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQw7P0Jkcns ), who served three tours
in the current Iraq war, returning with severe post-traumatic stress
disorder. The Lodi resident recalls a conversation with his
Assemblyman, Rep. Keith Ripp (R-Lodi). He asked if Ripp cared that
Silbaugh had to risk arrest and jail to treat his service-related
disability. Ripp, he says, responded by shrugging his shoulders.

"I've been on over 10 different prescriptions provided by the VA to
control my PTSD since returning from Iraq, each with its own list of
side effects," says Silbaugh. "Why won't the Legislature allow me to
use something less harmful and more helpful?"

Why indeed?

The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, sponsored by Rep. Mark Pocan
(D-Madison) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee), was launched with
high expectations at a packed Capitol press conference in November 2009.

A joint public hearing on the bill held on Dec. 15 ran more than
eight hours. In all, 105 people spoke in support, including patients,
family members, state patient advocates, nursing and hospice groups,
health-care workers and the state ACLU. Patients reported wide
success with cannabis and almost uniformly expressed how conventional
medications didn't work or had intolerable side effects.

Only five people testified against the bill, including
representatives of Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, the Wisconsin
Medical Society, Narcotics Officers Association and the Controlled
Substances Board.

The bill also enjoyed broad public support and backing from the
editorial boards of all major state newspapers. But none of that was
enough to keep the bill from dying in committee, extending a streak
dating back to the mid-1990s.

What happened?

In short, the death of this bill is one more reminder that state
politics is more about politics than people. In today's heated
political climate, compromise and bipartisanship are considered flaws.

The Republican leadership decided early on to oppose the bill. At the
Dec. 15 hearing, Sens. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) and Alberta Darling
(R-River Falls) joined Reps. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and Pat
Strachota (R-West Bend) in an all-out assault. Vukmir's attacks were
so nasty they provoked loud booing and jeers from offended attendees.

With GOP lawmakers in full "Party of No" form, responsibility for
passing the bill fell to Democrats. Support at the hearing came from
Erpenbach, Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) and Judy Robson (D-Beloit).

But Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) appeared uninterested. While
Wisconsin veterans, seniors, sick, disabled and dying waited months
for a committee vote, the buck stopped with Lassa. Rather than being
a leader and working to find a compromise, she did nothing, and the
bill died in committee.

As this sad drama played out, Jacki Rickert and I heard from hundreds
of Wisconsin patients; their stories often brought us to tears. Good
people with the bad fortune to have a life of pain, and the even
greater misfortune of living in Wisconsin, where a majority of the
Legislature doesn't care.

Rickert says she's reminded of what she told candidate Bill Clinton
in 1992 after he promised to look into her unfilled federal medical
marijuana prescription: "Sir, please don't say it if you don't mean
it. I don't think I can stand it to have another bubble broken. I
don't think I could take any more."

Clinton broke his promise.