MAYOR HAS LET MEDICAL MARIJUANA DRIFT IN THE AIR

As the chorus of voices questioning the benefits of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors meeting continues to rise, (letters July 1: "To cater to mayors,
inmates cut off on Dad's Day" and "Police show was sad sight"), I would
like to add my 2 cents.

Who knows what became of the open letter to Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson regarding federal medical marijuana policy that
Mayor Sue Bauman agreed to circulate among visiting mayors during the
conference ("Bauman to Forward Pot Plea," June 14)? Certainly not me, the
letter's author.

Mayor Bauman belatedly responded to the second email I sent her trying to
ascertain what became of the letter by saying she didn't know and was
attempting to find out. That was a week ago, and I am still waiting.

While the conference may have delivered some benefits to our fair city,
most ordinary Madisonians seem to be at a loss to name them. A lot of folks
are still getting over the shock of seeing hordes of paramilitary police
videotaping peaceful protesters and intimidating them and anyone else
passing by with a show of overwhelming brute force.

After we endured major inconveniences and disruptions foisted upon us in
the name of protecting visiting mayor's security, it sure would have been
nice if Bauman could have at least delivered something for the little
people, like those who need medical marijuana. But apparently that was not
a priority.

Perhaps some mayors may have heard the text of the letter as I read it to a
sparse crowd at the free speech stage across the no man's land from Monona
Terrace Convention Center, and I gave that large print copy to the mayor of
Hope, N. J., who ventured across the temporary Berlin Wall erected across
Marin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to find out what was going on.

Ironically, while many mayors may not have seen the letter, the man the
letter was addressed to, Tommy Thompson, actually stopped by the stage
later Saturday afternoon to say hello to his old friend Ben Masel. As that
encounter wound down, I asked Thompson to reschedule marijuana for medical
use so patients could finally get safe and legal access. Thompson waved me
off with a dismissive look as he got back into his SUV with his bodyguards.

But as to the fate of the letter, we are still waiting. Perhaps, one of
these days the Mayor will get around to letting us all in on it's fate.

Gary Storck

Madison