MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES RALLY

Advocates for legalizing marijuana for medical use in Wisconsin are
rallying support at this weekend's Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest
Festival for a bill they say is expected to be introduced by Rep.
Gregg Underheim, R-Oshkosh.

Underheim, who chairs the Assembly's Health Committee, said in June
that after talking with cancer survivors while he was receiving
treatment for prostate cancer, he planned to introduce legislation to
allow limited use of medical marijuana when prescribed by a doctor.

He could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Local advocate Gary Storck said members of the Wisconsin Coalition
for Safe Access plan to make an announcement at the Capitol on
Monday, when they also will deliver cards signed by medical marijuana
supporters to state legislators.

The cards cite surveys that found 80 percent of people in Wisconsin
and across the country support access to medical marijuana.

Storck said there are already 15 co-sponsors of the bill, including
Reps. Mark Pocan and Spencer Black, both Madison Democrats.

Pocan said many people he has talked to believe that marijuana can be
helpful in alleviating pain and creating an appetite, and provides a
more holistic option to treating symptoms than other drugs.

Black said he sees no reason why marijuana should not be available to
help patients with cancer and other illnesses when prescribed by a doctor.

"Many states ranging from conservative to progressive have passed
legislation like this," Black said. "I would hope Wisconsin would as well."

"I think we have our first real chance," said longtime local advocate
Ben Masel.

A medical marijuana bill introduced four years ago never made it out
the Assembly's Health Committee, Masel said, adding that Underheim,
who also chaired the committee then, opposed it at that time.

Storck, who helped establish the organization Is My Medicine Legal
Yet?, credits the marijuana he has used daily for more than 30 years
with saving his eyesight by reducing pressure caused by glaucoma.
Marijuana also alleviates his chronic pain caused by degenerative
disc disease and arthritis, he said.

After almost dying following heart surgery in 1997, Storck said, "I
decided to use this extra time I was given to get medical marijuana
(legalized) in Wisconsin."

The 35th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival brought
advocates from California and Washington, D.C., to join local
supporters Saturday in speaking out in favor of legalizing marijuana
for medical and recreational purposes.

The festival will continue at 1 p.m. today on Library Mall with
bluegrass music by Barleycorn and a parade up State Street to a rally
on the Capitol steps. The parade will begin at about 2:45 p.m.

Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a leading figure in the medical marijuana movement
in California, said that nearly 150,000 patients have benefited from
medical marijuana since it was legalized in that state nearly 10 years ago.

Mikuriya said the federal government is protecting big pharmaceutical
companies by opposing medical use of marijuana in favor of drugs that
are less effective and can have severe side effects.

Other advocates, such as R. Keith Stroup of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, D.C., and Mikki
Norris of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign in El Cerrito, Calif., are
drawing on the battle for civil rights by gays and lesbians in urging
recreational marijuana users to come out of the closet.

Stroup said many people were brought up amid cultural opposition to
marijuana in the era of "Reefer Madness" and have an image of pot
smokers as long-haired hippies burning draft cards.

But that is changing, Stroup said, adding that 47 percent of
Americans today have smoked marijuana. "We're within a couple of
years of having more Americans who have smoked than not."

In the last year, 27 million Americans smoked marijuana, Stroup said.
"We're just average Americans. We're certainly not criminals."

Of the 755,000 arrests for marijuana in the United States last year,
he said, 88 percent were for simple possession.

Norris' group also is working to dispel the myths and negative
stereotypes associated with marijuana use. Its Web site -
www.cannabisconsumers.org - features photos and profiles of 260
marijuana users "to show we are basically good, contributing members
of society."