State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, will announce Wednesday his intention to reintroduce a bill that would make medical marijuana legal in Wisconsin.
The bill will share both the name and language of a piece of failed legislation introduced in the state legislature in 2009. Titled the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, the bill would make medical marijuana to treat illnesses legal.
In a 2009 statement, the two main sponsors, Pocan and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, promised to "continue to push this issue forward until we eventually change the law." Both Pocan and Erpenbach are sponsoring this bill as well.
State Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, who opposed the bill as a state representative when it was introduced in 2009, pointed to possible ulterior motives, such as the goal of one day legalizing marijuana for all citizens during a 2009 hearing.
Vukmir called the bill a "façade" and accused the bill's sponsors of using citizens with dangerous illnesses to pursue widespread legalization of marijuana.
Associate Dean for Public Health and Professor of Population Health Sciences Patrick L. Remington said medical marijuana is a "really complex issue" because "there's a difference between what science tells us and what people actually report."
"According to the science, there's no reason that medical marijuana is needed given the existence of current pharmaceutical drugs," Remington said.
But he added that people with chronic pain "tell us that medical marijuana makes them feel better."
Remington said the medical marijuana discussion is important to have.
"There's no right or wrong on the medical marijuana issue but we should debate it and let the people decide," Remington said.
