MADISON NEEDS TO ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUBS

Dear Editor:

In April 1977 Madison voters passed an initiative that created Madison
General Ordinance 23.20, said to be the oldest medical marijuana law on the
books in the world. It's time for Madison to once again lead on the issue
of medical marijuana.

With Rep. Gregg Underheim, R-Oshkosh, chair of the Assembly Health
Committee, planning to introduce a medical marijuana bill into the
Wisconsin Legislature, there is a chance our state could join the 10 other
states that legalized marijuana as medicine as early as next year, if the
Legislature follows the more than 80 percent support among state residents
for medicinal pot.

But patients need it today. Some will not make it to tomorrow, much less
next year. Time is a precious commodity when one suffers from serious illness.

Madison needs to look at tolerating the establishment of cannabis clubs so
city residents following the letter of Ordinance 23.20 and using medical
marijuana under the care of a practitioner do not have to go without and
suffer needlessly or be forced to attempt to buy medicine of uncertain
quality and safety on the street, risking rip-offs or arrest.

It's time for the mayor and City Council to take up this issue and find a
way for local patients to have safe access to medical cannabis and fulfill
the wishes of the more than 60 percent of Madison voters who passed
Ordinance 23.20 into law nearly three decades ago. This is just simple
human compassion.

Gary Storck

Director of communications

Is My Medicine Legal YET?

Madison