Medical Marijuana

But even though 80% of Wisconsin residents approve of legalizing medical
marijuana for seriously ill patients, the state does not allow voters to
ratify a program through the ballot initiative process, as Michigan did.
Instead, medical marijuana supporters must urge the state Legislature to
pass a bill in both houses that also would be supported by the governor.

Unfortunately, attempts to get a well-thought-out bill through the state
Legislature have failed in past years, even with bipartisan support
among lawmakers.

But Gary Storck, spokesman for Is My Medicine Legal Yet? (IMMLY), said
he’s “fairly confident” that a Democratically controlled state
Legislature will legalize medical marijuana in the next session. “It’s
becoming more of a mainstream issue,” Storck said. “And it would be
really wrong to delay something that got such strong support in
Michigan. I think it would be incredibly cruel to string it out. The
groundwork has already been done.”

He said the Legislature should act quickly to save people’s lives. “I
know people who are having a really hard time every day because they
don’t have legal access to medical marijuana,” Storck said. “Their
situations are so dire that they’re not going to see it in their
lifetime, even if it is passed in the next session.”

While most medical marijuana users are coping with cancer treatments,
glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and chronic pain, Storck added that veterans with
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or brain injuries may also benefit
from medical marijuana use. Other research indicates that using
marijuana may forestall Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

What’s more, Storck argued that the state as a whole would benefit
economically from cannabis research and a legal medical marijuana
industry. “It’s an industry with a lot of jobs,” Storck said. “And we
can have it here really easily.”

Storck is also encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal on Dec. 1
to review a case concerning California’s medical marijuana law. He said
it shows that even the highest court in the land has decided to respect
state laws in this area, despite a 2005 court decision that seemed to
give the federal government more power over state-level medical
marijuana programs. “This is a case with ramifications in Wisconsin,”
Storck said. “There isn’t a gray area anymore. The Supreme Court said
that law enforcement should uphold state law first.”