MEDICAL POT NO JOKE FOR NEEDY PATIENTS

April 1 was April Fools' Day, but for patients in Wisconsin, the state
legislature's handling of medical marijuana is anything but humorous.

Assembly Bill 715 died in the Committee on Criminal Justice on March 14
without a hearing or a vote.

Unfortunately, hostile Republicans, who control the House, refused to give
the bill consideration despite the fact that 80 percent of adults in the
state support medical marijuana, as noted in the "Wisconsin Trends" survey,
conducted in February by Chamberlain Research Consultants of Madison.

The bill was sponsored by a diverse group of 10 representatives and was
endorsed by the Wisconsin Nurses Association.

Not to be swayed by good sense or the good people of Wisconsin, Assembly
Speaker Scott Jensen jokingly dismissed the bill in December as a
"perennial loser" and the product of "Madison liberals."

Jensen and his fellow Republican leaders of the House are out of touch with
the people of Wisconsin. As a result, patients who have a legitimate need
for medical marijuana can only hope that joke will be on such callous
politicians come election time.

Richard Schmitz

legislative analyst Marijuana Policy Project Washington, D.C.