CANDIDATES FACE MARIJUANA ISSUE

Jane Marshall's letter, "Sentence not harsh enough" (Aug 29), criticizing
the sentence given to a nursing assistant who stole pain patches from
elderly nursing home residents got me thinking.

While stealing pain patches is certainly reprehensible, is it any less
reprehensible than politicians who oppose legalizing medical marijuana,
thereby denying patients a tool that could ease their suffering and improve
their quality of life? Certainly there is no shortage of elected officials
and candidates from both Republican and Democratic parties who have worked
to deny medical marijuana.

One such person is 69th District State Assembly Rep. Scott Suder
(R-Abbotsford), who, at the behest of Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, buried
this session's medical marijuana bill in the Criminal Justice Committee he
chairs, effectively killing it. There is Jensen himself, who gave Suder the
order. There is Gov. Scott McCallum, who could have supported the bill and
asked Speaker Jensen to hold hearings on it, but didn't. There is
Democratic candidate for governor Tom Barrett, who supports the federal
classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug with no medical uses, who
has refused to cosponsor the federal "States Rights to Medical Act" and
joined a host of right-wing Republican ideologues in voting for a
resolution "Expressing the Sense of Congress that Marijuana is a Dangerous
and Addictive Drug and Should not be Legalized for Medicinal Use."

Fortunately, voters can be the judge of candidates they want to serve.
Suder has a Democratic opponent, Larry Osegard, and Libertarian candidate
for governor Ed Thompson has been an outspoken supporter of legalizing
medical marijuana since he began campaigning last year, demonstrating time
and time again his commitment to working to make sure a medical marijuana
bill will be a high priority next year if he is elected governor.

Voters have clear choices in the Sept. 10 primary and the general election
Nov. 5 to make sure that uncompassionate people like Suder, McCallum and
Barrett, who are perfectly satisfied with denying an essential medicine to
our states' sick and dying, will not have another chance to withhold this
option from those who need it.

GARY STORCK
Madison