MEDICAL MARIJAUNA BILL GETS SECOND CHANCE

MADISON -- Much like the debilitating diseases that relentlessly wear away
patients until death finally takes over, Rep. Frank Boyle says he has been
just as relentless in trying to provide some of those patients with pain
relief through the prescribed medical use of marijuana.

Boyle, D-Superior, has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to announce
that he'll reintroduce a bill to legalize the prescribed medical use of
marijuana. He will be joined at the news conference by the bill's
cosponsor, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison. Pocan and Boyle introduced a similar
bill in the last session of the Legislature. The bill received a public
hearing, but Republican legislative leaders did not schedule an Assembly vote.

Boyle said he will continue to purse a medical marijuana bill, regardless
of past resistance.

"This is something I'll never give up on," Boyle said during an interview
Friday. "For some people enduring unbelievable pain, marijuana is the only
relief. Many of these people are terminally ill and marijuana is the only
relief available to them."

Boyle said critics of the legislation must get beyond the illegal,
dangerous drug mentality when dealing with the medical use of marijuana.

"We're not talking here about pot parties," Boyle said. "Most physicians
agree there's a place for marijuana in the treatment of some diseases and
the side effects of some treatments. Yet, current law treats the use of
marijuana - any use, medical or otherwise - as a felony in the same class
as heroin and crack cocaine."

Marijuana use for medical reasons is not a new concept, Boyle said.

This is something that's been going on for a thousand years. In the United
States, the American Medical Association was recommending marijuana use for
some treatments a hundred years ago until it was criminalized."

That move to remove legalization was upheld by a U.S. Supreme Court
decision in May. Some states however, have legalized marijuana use for
medical purposes either by ballot referendum or the traditional legislative
process.

Boyle said he hopes Wisconsin will follow the lead of other states.

"As many as 23 bills were introduced nationwide two years ago when we
introduced our bill," Boyle said. "I suspect that at last that many have
been introduced around the country during this legislative session.

"For some patients with glaucoma and those wasting away from the effects of
chemotherapy, marijuana is their only relief," Boyle said. "I simply won't
relent, I won't stop pushing this until they get the relief the deserve.
It's the only human response to this I know of."