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March 14, 2008
One more letter in the Capital Times: GOP control must end for medicinal pot to pass
Posted by Gary Storck
Friday, March 14, 2008
Like many others in Madison and beyond, I'm saddened by the pending demise of the Capital Times as a daily paper. I had my first letter about medical cannabis published in the Cap Times in Sept. 1997, "Legalization Of Medical Pot Overdue", click here, and this one from today marks my 49th letter they have published. I have had hundreds of letters published all over, but no one paper has opened their editorial page more to me than the Capital Times over the last decade. I salute the Cap Times, and hope their tranformation to a mostly online venture will be successful, and that they continue to be a venue for progressive thought.
So, Thanks TCT, for one more...
Source: Capital Times click here
Pubdate: March 14, 2008
GOP CONTROL MUST END FOR MEDICINAL POT TO PASSDear Editor: Thanks to Tyler Zellner for a great letter advocating legal access to medical marijuana.
One point that needs clarification. There actually was medical cannabis legislation in the Legislature this session. Assembly Bill 550, the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, was introduced last September and named in honor of Rickert, a longtime Wisconsin medical cannabis patient/activist.
Unfortunately, the bill, like other unfinished business, expired as of Thursday and the Assembly's GOP leadership once again did not allow a hearing or a vote in committee. This has happened nearly every session dating back to when the Republicans gained control of the Assembly in 1993.
Two weeks ago, Michigan certified signatures for a ballot initiative that will likely put this issue before its voters this November. Every time this issue has gone to voters, it has passed. [Note: In writing this, I forgot that in South Dakota, an mmj initiative lost narrowly 48-52% in Nov. 2006. But the two states are very different.]
Medical cannabis legislation is on the move in Illinois too, where a state Senate committee passed legislation last week. Supporters in Minnesota are also back to work after near success last session.
The American College of Physicians, the nation's second-largest doctors' group, issued a position paper this year supporting medical cannabis.
It is clear to me, as a longtime patient/activist for medical cannabis, that the only way this legislation will make it through the Legislature is if the Republican domination of the Assembly is ended. Fortunately for suffering patients and their families, the GOP majority has shrunk to just three.
Gov. Jim Doyle is on record stating he would sign a bill. It's now up to voters this fall to put representatives in place who agree with the 80 percent of us who believe medical cannabis should be a legal option for state residents.
Gary Storck
Is My Medicine Legal YET?
Madison
Posted by Gary at March 14, 2008 12:13 PM
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