NEW YORK TIMES AD SPARKS DEBATE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE IN WIS.

A recent full-page advertisement in The New York Times in support of the
legalization of medicinal marijuana has reintroduced the controversy in
Wisconsin surrounding the issue.

The ad, in the form of a letter to President Bush, included endorsements
from many state representatives, including nine from Wisconsin, medical
professionals, political organizations and celebrities expressing their
support for medicinal marijuana.

"Marijuana has been shown to be a useful tool in the treatment of nausea and
other complications associated with chemotherapy," said Tom Powell,
legislative aid to state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison.

Marijuana can also be used to stimulate the appetite of AIDS patients in the
phase called "wasting," according to Gina Dennik-Champion, executive
director of the Wisconsin Nurses Association, which also supported the ad.

Jason Young, coordinator for The Coalition for Compassionate Access, said
the country is behind the use of medical marijuana.

"In poll after poll this is something the American people wholeheartedly
support," he said. "The numbers run at three-quarters of the population
supporting doctors being able to prescribe medical marijuana."

In a recent survey Berceau conducted, 82 percent of her constituents
answered positively in support of the use of marijuana for medicinal use.

State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, who collected the Wisconsin signatures for
the ad, said the issue should not be considered irrelevant.

"We need to have a rational debate about these things and that's really what
we're asking the Bush administration at the federal level to do," he said.

Pocan has co-authored a state Assembly bill to legalize medicinal marijuana.
The bill would allow the drug to be used for such illnesses as AIDS, cancer
or glaucoma.

"We patterned ours after the law in Hawaii, which would essentially allow
for the medical use of marijuana if a doctor prescribes it and it's the best
route for various ailments," he said.

Pocan added that if patients and their doctors decide marijuana would best
treat their ailments it shouldn't be a criminal offense.

On the federal level, officials are unaware of the importance of the problem
according to Krissy Oechslin, assistant director of communications for the
Marijuana Policy Project, which paid for the New York Times ad.

"For some people the best thing is marijuana, except it happens to be
illegal," Oechslin said. "The government should allow access to it on a
case-by-case basis for people who can benefit from it."