RAISING MEDICAL MARIJUANA FROM THE DARK AGES

Born with glaucoma, I stumbled upon marijuana as a way to save my eyesight
at age 17 in 1972. In 1997, after surviving a life-threatening infection
following my third open-heart surgery, I decided to dedicate the extra time
I was given in this life to work to make medical marijuana legally
available to patients who can benefit. That same year I met Jacki Rickert,
a Mondovi, Wis. resident who had suffered for years from symptoms of
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and other ailments. Jacki had led a 210-mile
wheelchair "Journey for Justice" to lobby for a state medical cannabis law
from Mondovi to the state Capitol, but the legislature would not listen.

Jacki and I began working together at both the state and federal levels and
in 2000 founded, "Is My Medicine Legal YET?". IMMLY's website at
www.immly.org lays out our efforts, including a poll we commissioned in
February 2002 that not only found 80 percent support statewide among
Wisconsinites for legal access to medical cannabis with a doctor's note,
but also 92 percent in Dane County. I am also a co-founder of Wisconsin
NORML and Madison NORML, and post on Madison NORML's new weblog at
www.madisonnorml.org.

Cannabis is an ancient medicine utilized for more than 15,000 years by
humans for medical purposes. It was a legal medicine in the United States
up until 1937, when Congress voted to prohibit marijuana without debate and
against the wishes of groups including the American Medical and American
Bar Associations. Before 1937 pharmaceutical companies, including Merck and
Parke-Davis, distributed cannabis in a wide variety of forms. Advertised
uses included appetite stimulation, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory for
rheumatism, migraine, dental pain, corn relief and more.

Despite federal prohibition, 11 states have now passed workable medical
marijuana laws that allow patients or their designated caregivers to use,
posses and cultivate marijuana for medical use. Anecdotal and clinical
evidence demonstrates cannabis is useful for treating symptoms of a wide
range of ailments including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple
sclerosis, chronic pain, ALS, arthritis and many more.

Recent scientific evidence is very promising; cannabis' powerful
antioxidant and neuroprotectives properties can halt or slow the
progression of diseases like multiple sclerosis, and block the formation of
plaque in arteries, protecting the heart and brain from stroke.

As I write this, a ruling is expected any day from the U.S. Supreme Court
in the blockbuster medical marijuana case, Raich v. Ashcroft. If affirmed,
the case could mean the federal war on medical marijuana patients is over.
If not, existing local and state medical cannabis laws, like Madison's
Ordinance 23.20 and California's Prop 215, will still stand.

We hear a lot of talk out of Washington about freedom, liberty and
democracy, but here in America today patients do not have the freedom under
federal law to legally access this medicine even with their physician's
recommendation. Generations of sick and dying Americans and their families
have been forced to sneak around like criminals to help a loved one feed
themselves, ease pain, sleep and get back a little quality of life. It is
time to err on the side of life and allow patients to utilize this gentle
therapy if they so choose.