A public hearing is being held at the state capitol today on the latest proposal to allow a medical marijuana program in the state.
Since Democrats control both houses of the state Legislature, and Gov. Jim Doyle has indicated he’d support a bill if it got to his desk, medical MJ advocates see this as their best chance to formalize a program in Wisconsin.
I’m not able to be in Madison today to hear the testimony, but I thought I’d pass along some of the prepared comments of those who are speaking before the legislature today.
First off is advocate Gary Storck’s impassioned plea for legalizing medical marijuana for the seriously or chronically ill. Here’s an excerpt:
For every patient that can make their particular painful journey to Room 412 East of the State Capitol at 10 a.m., there will be thousands more who will be unable. Some are bedridden, others may be isolated or without a means of transit. Some are just too scared to even say the “M” word and would not consider breaking the law even to save their own life, even if begged by family.
And there are those patients for whom the hearing comes too late, like our dear friend Mary Powers, a disabled Army veteran and IMMLY board member who lobbied tirelessly for passage of Wisconsin medical cannabis legislation, lobbying Capitol offices up until two weeks before her death Oct. 22, at 50 from cancer, AIDS and Hepatitis C. Mary did whatever she could but died without legal access to the life-sustaining medicine she fought so hard for.
IMMLY’s 2002 poll and another from 2005 established that 70-80% of Wisconsinites support legal access with a doctor’s note. The people of our state understand they may need this medicine some day. Passing the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act intact correctly removes this issue from the realm of the criminal justice system and places it squarely back where it belongs, in the hands of patients and their physicians. Medical cannabis is healthcare.
Then there’s the testimony from Dr. Mark Miller, written on Wisconsin Medical Society stationery:
Public policy changes addressing marijuana use have been called the “medical marijuana issue” based on the premise that marijuana should be allowed to be a “medicine” that people can use, with or without a doctor’s prescription. The basic assumptions behind “medical marijuana” initiatives are that marijuana is an acceptably safe and a reasonably effective product to relieve human suffering. Everyone wants to relieve human sufferingespecially professionals such as physicians and nurses. “Medical marijuana” advocates add a layer of emotion by saying that their opponents want to prevent people in misery from being able to relieve their misery. Some states have approved “medical marijuana” not through a legislative process, but through a ballot initiative processa referendum of the general citizenry. Whenever there is a legislative process, hearings are held and patients are brought forth to describe their misery and to make emotional pleas for relief. I’ve attended these hearings beforeanyone who would say anything against “medical marijuana” is made to feel guilty for doing so, especially in front of sincere people who may be confined to wheelchairs or otherwise clearly impaired by a health condition. [Miller’s bold type, not mine.]
Dr. Miller then goes on to state that marijuana is dangerous; it’s illegal; it’s ineffective as a medicine; and patients would be better off taking the THC-based Marinol. Read the whole testimonyit’s long but worth the time.
Obviously, the establishment doesn’t want to see marijuana legalized as medicine in Wisconsin. They’d rather allow sick people to become hooked on Big Pharma’s oxycodone, morphine or Valium, or waste away because of nausea, or simply live in pain (or in fear of being busted by the cops for buying or possessing pot).
Call your representatives and senators and let them know your thoughts on medical marijuana. If you don’t voice your opinion, others will. And you may not like it.
