EIGHT STATES LEGALIZED MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Editor: Your editorial of Oct. 9, "Drug makers are killing golden goose,"
about pharmaceutical corporations trying to block the importation of
lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada, raises other issues about
Canadian medical care.

An appeals court decision in Canada just found federal medical marijuana
regulations unconstitutional because they forced people with serious
illnesses to turn to the black market, in violation of their right to life,
liberty and security of the person. The court made it easier for medical
users to obtain a safe and reliable supply of the drug by allowing licensed
growers to produce plants for more than one patient and also removed a
requirement that patients need a second medical specialist to support their
application.

The high cost of conventional pharmaceuticals and the illegality of medical
marijuana have shattered America's claim to having the best health care in
the world.

The Wisconsin Legislature will soon take up the issue of medical marijuana.
Now is the time to call your state assembly representative and state
senator and ask them to support this legislation. Over 80 percent of
Wisconsinites support medical marijuana. Passage of this law would not only
give patients new options in the treatment of hundreds of medical
conditions but also give us the same rights now enjoyed by Canadians, other
Western nations, as well as residents of the eight states where patients
and their caregivers are allowed to possess and cultivate medical
marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington. A call to your representatives takes only a minute. Call them
today, and keep calling until they accept the will of the people they
represent and restore our right to use marijuana as medicine.

Gary Storck

Director of Communications

Is My Medicine Legal YET?
Madison