Madison NORML

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana

Date: May 24, 2007 11:13 AM

Subject: Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Weekly Newsletter

From: Stuart Cooper, GSMM campaign manager

[snip]

1. Gov. Thompson says he will stop the raids on patients

This week, I talked with former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) at Brown's Seabrook Lobster Pound, where he was courting voters. I shook his hand and said, "Legislators and voters in 12 states have passed laws protecting seriously ill residents who use medical marijuana with their doctor's approval; our current federal policy is to raid and arrest these patients. When you're elected president, will you respect the will of the voters in these states and end the raids on state medical marijuana programs?"

Gov. Thompson responded, "I will stop the raids, yes."

Thompson’s prior record on the issue is not good. In his 1998 campaign, he demonized Democratic candidate Ed Garvey for supporting medical cannabis legislation.

[snip]

Two Candidates Disagree On Marijuana - (STATEWIDE) -- Wisconsin's two top candidates for governor have very different views on marijuana. Governor Tommy Thompson does NOT support the use of marijuana for any reason... and opposes decriminalization for medical use. He says that would send the wrong message to kids. Democratic challenger Ed Garvey disagree... saying it should be all right for sick people to get prescriptions to use Medicinal Marijuana!

[snip]

As secretary of Health and Human Services for the Bush Administration, he made sure HHS bureaucrats stifled any progress getting medicine to patients legally. Hopefully, this time Thompson understood the question. Of course, since his candidacy is already on the ropes, it is unlikely he will ever be in a position to give the orders to stop the raids anyways.