MEDICAL USE OF POT PROPOSED

Two state legislators have unveiled a bill that would allow the use of
marijuana for medical purposes.

Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Frank Boyle, D-Superior, are basing their
legislation on Hawaii's medical marijuana law, which allows patients to
grow possess and use the drug if authorized by their doctors.

Eight states have currently passed medical marijuana laws due to the drugs
wide range of therapeutic applications, the legislators noted during a
morning press conference Tuesday at the State Capitol.

Support for the measure also came from Tiffany Richards, R.N., of the
Wisconsin Nurses Association.

"Cannabis can be used as an option by patients resistant to other
treatments." she said. Therapeutic benefits include reduced nausea from
chemotherapy and stimulation of appetite for those suffering from AIDS
wasting syndrome, Richards added.

Frequent criticisms have included arguments that marijuana is addictive and
a gateway drug that leads to others. Richards said those statements are not
true.

"Patients need a legal, unadulterated supply," she said.

Additional support for the measure came from Ed Thompson, a candidate for
governor.

"Politicians should not interfere with the choices made by people who are
sick and suffering and their health care providers," Thompson said in a
written statement.

Similar bills have been introduced in the past legislative sessions without
success.

Pocan is hopeful that national polls showing increased support for medical
use of marijuana may influence some legislators.

He said the new legislation would provide for a nonprofit corporation to
distribute marijuana, with very specific controls.