State lawmakers introduce medical marijuana legislation

Medical marijuana may be legalized in Wisconsin if a bill announced Monday makes it through the state Legislature.

State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, announced the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act Monday, which would allow patients who qualify for medical marijuana to receive the drug at nonprofit distribution locations.

“It’s the right thing to do. We need to have this bill passed now. We can’t waste any time,” Jacki Rickert, for whom the bill is named, said at a news conference.

Pocan said law-abiding citizens who need medical marijuana, including patients suffering from glaucoma or going through chemotherapy, are forced “to send their families out on the street to buy pot. That should not be illegal.”

Although the new legislation would make it easier for patients to get the drug, Erpenbach said there would be limits on how much marijuana a person could possess or grow.

“People often want to get this confused with the criminal aspect of marijuana,” Pocan said. “This is specifically for the medical use of marijuana.”

“We are not criminals,” said Gary Storck, communications director for Is My Medicine Legal YET? and a glaucoma patient, said. “We are just people trying to get on with our lives and move forward.”

If the legislation passes, Wisconsin would join the 13 other states that have legalized the drug for medical purposes.  

“The days when a legislator can voice their opinion against medical marijuana without substantiating it to the people who believe otherwise have passed,” Storck said. “Our sick and dying patients deserve as much.”
 

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