POT FOR THE PAIN?

A Madison Woman With A Painful Disease Tells Of The Benefits Of Marijuana As
Medicine.

Fifty-three-year-old Jacki Rickert of Madison is undergoing
rehabilitative therapy for four broken ribs and a chipped hipbone she
suffered in a fall that would not have hurt most people.

The therapy is expected to help, but without marijuana, Rickert doubts
she'd be able to handle the pain associated with Ehlers-Danlos
syndrome, a disorder that makes her bones and connective tissue highly
susceptible to injury.

Rickert said marijuana calms her and relaxes her muscles, allowing the
ball and socket of her shoulder joint to be put back together without
a trip to the hospital.

Marijuana also helps Rickert, who weighs about 85 pounds, maintain
weight by stimulating her appetite, she said.

But the use of marijuana for any purpose is illegal, and there's a
dispute over whether it has medicinal value.

Rickert, who lived in Mondovi until recently, hopes a case now being
considered by the U.S. Supreme Court will pave the way for making
medicinal use of marijuana legal in Wisconsin. The high court heard
arguments Monday on whether states should have authority to decide if
marijuana is good medicine.

Currently, federal law bans marijuana use nationally, and the Bush
administration opposes a change.

State Rep. Gregg Underheim, R-Oshkosh, said he will introduce a bill
to legalize marijuana for medicinal use during the next legislative
session, which begins in January. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in
favor of states' rights, Underheim's bill could get a boost.

Underheim introduced a similar proposal last session, but the bill
died in committee, partly over concerns about how patients would
acquire the drug, Underheim said. He's working on language that would
address that concern before re-introducing the bill, he said.

Underheim, who had a small cancerous growth removed from his prostate
in 2002, said his own experience with cancer got him thinking about
the possible medicinal benefits of marijuana. The drug can reduce
nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy and stimulate the appetites
of AIDS patients, among other benefits, said Underheim, who has headed
the Assembly's Health Committee since 1995.

Ten Democrats and two other Republicans -- Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black
River Falls, and Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria -- signed onto
Underheim's bill last session. Underheim said he'll get more support
if the proposal makes it to a floor vote.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle will wait to see a specific proposal before
deciding if he'd sign a bill legalizing marijuana for medical use,
said Melanie Fonder, a spokeswoman for the governor. Doyle would
consider input from medical professionals, who already prescribe drugs
that are more dangerous than marijuana, Fonder said.

"This should be a medical decision, not a political decision," Fonder
said.