DEBATABLE:

SHOULD MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA BE LEGAL IN WISCONSIN?

MADISON - Fifty-three-year-old Jacki Rickert of Madison is undergoing
rehabilitative therapy for four broken ribs and a chipped hipbone that she
suffered in a fall that wouldn't 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.

Even daily tasks can result in the separation of her shoulder joint,
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, to maintain
weight by stimulating her appetite, she said. However, the use of marijuana
for any purpose is illegal, and there's a dispute over whether it has
medicinal value. But Rickert said she does "what you have to do to get by,"
and that marijuana could benefit a lot of people with chronic health problems.

Should medical use of marijuana be legal in Wisconsin? Rickert, who lived
in Mondovi until recently, is hoping 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.

One problem with changing the federal law would be the difficulty in
distinguishing medical marijuana from recreational marijuana.

Justice David H. Souter said an estimated 10 percent of people in America
use illegal drugs, and states with medical marijuana laws might not be able
to stop recreational users from taking advantage.

Justice Stephen Breyer said the government makes a strong argument that as
many as 100,000 sick people use marijuana in California, and "when we see
medical marijuana in California, we won't know what it is. Everybody'll
say, 'Mine is medical.' Certificates will circulate on the black market. We
face a mess."

And Justice Antonin Scalia said there are many people with "alleged medical
needs."

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 would wait to see a specific proposal before
deciding if he'd approve a bill for the legalization of marijuana for
medical use, said Melanie Fonder, a spokeswoman for the governor.

In reviewing such a proposal, 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.

Rickert, who also suffers from a nerve disorder, said she was once approved
in late 1990 to participate in a federal program that still provides
marijuana to seven patients in the United States. But the program was ended
by former President Bush before she was able to participate.