BAUMAN TO FORWARD POT PLEA

Mayor Sue Bauman plans to circulate a letter in support of medical
marijuana at this weekend's U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting.

The letter's purpose is to get signatures from visiting mayors to present
to Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who will speak on
Saturday.

The letter was written by Gary Storck, a Madison man with glaucoma and
arthritis. He is communications director for an organization called IMMLY?
(Is My Medicine Legal Yet?).

"Secretary Thompson, we ask your assistance in helping patients obtain safe
and legal access to medicinal marijuana," the letter reads. "We further ask
that the Bush Administration honor the promises made by President Bush
while campaigning for president, when he pledged to respect states' rights
of those states who have adopted medical marijuana laws."

Bauman spokesman Ryan Mulcahy said the mayor is circulating the letter but
"she's not sponsoring it or promoting it; it's at the request of Ben Masel."

Storck hopes Thompson is receptive to the letter, but he knows Thompson
answers to a higher level in President Bush. Still he hopes many of the
West Coast mayors sign the letter.

"Mayors are like the rest of us," Storck said. "They realize that if
someone gets sick, and cannabis is the only medicine that can help them,
they should get it."

Thompson received a similar letter in support of medical marijuana from his
brother Ed last month when the Libertarian gubernatorial candidate visited
Washington, D.C.