Currently, fourteen states across the nation allow the use of medicinal marijuana as a treatment for various illnesses. For cancer patients, marijuana is used to remedy the terrible nausea that follows chemotherapy. In people affected by glaucoma, the sticky icky has been shown to reduce irritating intraocular eye pressure. Even for people with AIDS, pot stimulates appetite in order to reverse the debilitating effects of wasting syndrome.
For having such undeniable treatment potential, marijuana gets a tremendously bad rap from an overwhelming population of older conservatives. While a growing number of states recently began to weigh the pros and cons of pot, the super-conservative sector of our society has been unjustly demonizing marijuana for ages. Apparently, this pot-blocking trend finally hit a road block right here in Wisconsin. A few weeks ago, the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to allow an advisory referendum to be placed on the election ballot this November that reads: ""Should the Wisconsin Legislature enact legislation allowing residents with debilitating medical conditions to acquire and possess marijuana for medical purposes if supported by their physician?""
If the Dane County referendum were to pass, it would have a negligible effect in and of itself. Simply by passing, it would not actually allow the use of medicinal marijuana in Dane County, nor would it have any legal implications for the next legislative session. Rather, it would be used as an indication to state legislators that the public is in favor of introducing legislation that allows medicinal marijuana in Wisconsin.
To much of the public, marijuana is viewed as a gateway drug to the use of more potentially harmful drugs. Unfortunately, the argument is a weak one. As we all know, correlation does not equal causation, and the idea of labeling marijuana as a ""gateway drug"" relies too heavily on exposure, location and setting of use. If grandma is smoking pot in the kitchen to treat her glaucoma, it's not that likely she's cooking little Johnny meth for lunch, too. Personally, whenever my path has crossed with marijuana, it's never lead to me being exposed to any ""harder"" drugs, with the exception of alcohol. At the same time, I've never seen marijuana used as a treatment for anything other than boredom.
But that's true for just about any drug used to treat an illness—unless you're the user, or in the immediate family, you probably won't see the positives or negatives from a drug—prescription or otherwise. That's the crux of the issue in the marijuana debate; medicine consumed on an individual basis just doesn't affect the average person outside of the household. If the detrimental side effects—and they are limited, vague and widely disputed—don't outweigh its treatment potential and don't affect a majority of the public, then withholding the drug is only a disservice to those with sicknesses.
While helping the sick is always a priority for public officials, the statewide implications of medicinal marijuana extend beyond its treatment value. Not only is allowing the use of pot for medical purposes beneficial to the ill, it's good for democracy. According to a 2010 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the Public and the Press, 73 percent of Americans are in favor of their state allowing the use and sale of marijuana for medical purposes if prescribed by a doctor. In the last few years, hundreds of studies have drawn similar conclusions signaling a rise in the public acceptance of medicinal marijuana. Since elected officials vote on behalf of the people they represent, it only makes sense that the Wisconsin legislature would propose policies allowing medicinal marijuana if the voting public so indicated its preferences.
On the off chance that pro-pot legislation is enacted and medicinal marijuana becomes legal at the state level, the question of dispensaries used as distribution points arises. Purely from an economic standpoint, pot dispensaries like those found in California are a financial boon, not a burden. According to the California Board of Equalization, medical marijuana and the dispensaries that ensued generated $100 million in state sales tax per year. In a state facing a $2.1 billion budget deficit at the start of the next legislative session, any avenue heading toward reducing state debt without increasing taxes or cutting spending is worth pursuing.
But dispensaries have their own implications. There exists a hyper-hypothetical older crowd who claim that dispensaries are the next step toward complete decriminalization of marijuana.
My question to them is, so what?
If marijuana is completely decriminalized, dealers and consumers alike would stay out of jail, easing the skyrocketing public funding needed to house criminals. Especially because Wisconsin focuses so heavily on the rising costs of boarding prisoners when compared to its surrounding states, by releasing all marijuana-related inmates, the state can save thousands—if not millions—in the long run. Then again, supposedly everyone would be high, but let's save that debate for another day.
The likelihood of Wisconsin legalizing medical marijuana in the near future might be small. However, the Dane County Board of Supervisors took a giant leap in the right direction by voting in favor of the referendum. Asking the voting public for insight on such a controversial topic is the right approach, and it is our civic duty to respond come November. Whether or not the answer will have any legislative implications, we will have to wait and see.
