A bill introduced by Rep. Marc Pocah D- Madison and Sen. Jon Erpenbach D-Waunakee, will be up for a hearing Dec. 15 to “allow people with debilitating medical conditions to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy up to three ounces of marijuana from new, non-profit ‘compassion centers,’” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana act would cover people with cancer, AIDS, Crohn’s disease, Hepatitis C, Alzheimer’s, disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other diseases that could be labeled serious medical conditions that doctors could prescribe marijuana for.
The respective House and Senate Bills (AB 554 and SB 368) define how many people can be cared for, and place caps on the amount of marijuana that can be available in the compassion centers, as well as allowing production and distribution facilities.
The bills are ambitious, but not unprecedented. Previous bills in Wisconsin had failed despite the occasional bi-partisan support, which had included our local representative Gregg Underheim. Nationally, Wisconsin would possibly become the 14th state to have such provisions if the bill passed.
What we are seeing and will see with the upcoming hearing is a cultural change getting its legislative legs. For decades the United States has waged a “War on Drugs” that has done catastrophic damage to Latin American countries and has done little to stem the tide of drugs coming into the U.S. It is about time lawmakers wise up and try a different approach to an endemic problem.
Finally our legislators have taken a step to minimally reduce the number incarcerated for possession of marijuana, and more importantly provide the legal framework for seriously debilitated people to receive some small solace for their conditions. It is a move that is compassionate.
Contrarily, legislators probably have other motivating factors that contribute to their pursuit of this bill’s passing. Legalizing marijuana, even in this limited sense will allow them to cash in on what has previously been an illicit commodity, and as our state faces budget shortfalls, the potential tax revenue probably has lawmakers’ eyes seeing green of another kind – tax dollars.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a number of entrepreneurial college students finding their place at one of these non-profit facilities, and at least that way they’d be considered honest laborers rather than criminals.
The bills are fairly short, and contain little to nothing that looks like pork spending in them. If only the state’s budget bill could do likewise.
While the fine details of regulation, quality control, and enforcement issues have yet to be hammered out, the move forward by lawmakers is refreshing albeit hypocritical in a way. As restrictions on public smoking of cigarettes and alcohol consumption keep tightening to levels approaching the Draconian, a move to legalize marijuana use could face a similar fate years down the road. More laws will inevitably follow from this bill should it pass, and will probably make more law-breakers thereby, which I suppose is what they want in the end anyway.
The time has come to try a new approach to marijuana use in Wisconsin that might have constructive impact. Whether this indicates a cultural shift of generations, or simply a pragmatic way to squeeze more money out of taxpayers, or both, we’ll only find out if it passes.
Medical Marijuana Bill could benefit Wisconsin if passed
Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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