SUPPORT BILL; PROVIDE PAIN RELIEF

It is not only cancer patients who find benefit from marijuana, and
Rep. Gregg Underheim's bill must not exclude those suffering from
other debilitating medical conditions.

For example, it is estimated there are more than 10,000 Wisconsinites
suffering from multiple sclerosis, over 300 dying from the disease
each year. Recent research in Britain has found marijuana to be an
essential treatment for this disease. A Wisconsin law passed in 1981
and signed by Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus in 1982 recognized marijuana's
utility in treating glaucoma along with cancer chemotherapy and pain,
although federal restrictions rendered that law symbolic.

Marijuana has also been shown to be helpful in hundreds of other
painful and serious medical conditions including reflex sympathetic
dystrophy, severe cases of fibromyalgia and rare diseases such as
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Decisions about which medical conditions are
appropriate for cannabis therapy should be in the hands of physicians,
not lawmakers.

With overwhelming public support for this bill, along with that of
state medical organizations including the Wisconsin Nurses
Association, Wisconsin Public Health Association and the AIDS Resource
Center of Wisconsin, all Wisconsin lawmakers -- Republican and
Democrat -- should show the same courage and compassion as Underheim
and agree to co-sponsor his bill. Swift action is needed so no more of
our fellow citizens are forced to choose between easing pain or
breaking the law.

Jacki Rickert, Mondovi, founder and executive director, and Gary
Storck, Madison, director of communications, Is My Medicine Legal YET?