Dem Lawmakers Push To Legalize Medical Marijuana
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach and Rep. Chris Taylor tour state to discuss medical marijuana.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, military veteran Andrea Roberts and State Rep. Chris Taylor. Photo by Dave Fidlin.
Efforts to advance bills legalizing medical marijuana have continuously stalled this year, but state lawmakers are undaunted as they make stops across Wisconsin to lay out the reasons behind their proposal.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) have visited the Milwaukee area this week to discuss why they continue to support bills that would allow patients access to cannabis with the caveat that a doctor’s prescription is attached to it.
Erpenbach and Taylor introduced Senate Bill 38 and Assembly Bill 75, respectively, in February. To date, no action has been taken within the capitol on either bills in legislative committees.
In a fitting nod to Veterans Day, much of the discussion focused on how the legalization of medical marijuana would assist members of the military suffering from a series of physical, mental and emotional conditions.
Andrea Roberts was among the military veterans who asserted medical marijuana would help with her conditions. Roberts, a disabled veteran, co-founded a group known as Wisconsin Veterans for Compassionate Care.
“There’s been a campaign to make (medical marijuana) look worse than it is,” Roberts said. “There’s something very unpatriotic about me having to come here and beg for medication.”
Roberts and other military veterans who would like the law enacted took aim at lawmakers against legalizing medical marijuana.
“If they are not supporting this medical marijuana bill they are against veterans — point blank,” Roberts said. “We need officials who say they are for something to follow through with their actions.”
At a time when the war against addictions to heroin, fentanyl and other opioids is more pronounced than ever, military veteran Steve Acheson said time is of the essence to make cannabis accessible for medicinal purposes.
Acheson, who served in the Iraq War from 2004 to 2008, said he has been prescribed scores of medications to address a range of physical issues. Since being honorably discharged, Acheson said he has struggled with anxiety, sleeplessness and depression.
The range of pills doctors have prescribed have, as Acheson described them, left him “in a zombie state.”
“We need access to an alternative,” Acheson said.
For their part, Erpenbach and Taylor said they have been fighting hard to work against some of the stigmas attached to marijuana use.
The state’s overall attitudes about marijuana use — especially for medicinal purposes — might be changing, Erpenbach suggested. At Monday’s forum, he pointed to polling data revealing 75 percent of Wisconsinites would support the bills if doctors are involved.
Erpenbach defended the bills introduced early this year, saying there have been numerous safeguards put in place.
“You would have to have a relationship with a doctor,” Erpenbach said at Monday’s forum. “If the doctor doesn’t think it’s a good idea … it won’t be available.”
Erpenbach and other supporters of the proposal also attempted to poke holes in the theory that medical marijuana prescribed under the guidance of a physician would serve as a gateway drug to other forms of medication.
“This is not going to lead to overdoses of heroin,” he said.
More about the Legalizing of Marijuana
- Data Wonk: Will State Move to Legalize Marijuana? - Bruce Thompson - Sep 25th, 2024
- Data Wonk: Should Wisconsin Legalize Marijuana? - Bruce Thompson - Sep 18th, 2024
- Indigenous-Led Campaign Launches to Support Medical Marijuana - Isiah Holmes - Sep 4th, 2024
- How Delta-8 Impacts Marijuana Debate in Wisconsin - Richelle Wilson - Jun 18th, 2024
- Milwaukee Officials Praise Rescheduling of Cannabis by Biden - Isiah Holmes - May 20th, 2024
- What Will Wisconsin Do Now That Feds Are Moving to Ease Marijuana Restrictions? - Rich Kremer - May 2nd, 2024
- A Better Wisconsin Together Renews Call for Cannabis Legalization - A Better Wisconsin Together - Apr 20th, 2024
- Republicans’ Medical Marijuana Bill Is Likely Dead - Baylor Spears - Feb 18th, 2024
- The State of Politics: Why GOP Divided on Medical Marijuana - Steven Walters - Jan 15th, 2024
- Bill Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession Under 14 Grams - Rich Kremer - Jan 15th, 2024
Read more about Legalizing of Marijuana here
When a loved one is wasting away unable to eat due to Chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting Syndrome, or Multiple Sclerosis, and needs this marvelous herb in order to increase their appetite, reduce the overwhelming pain, and live as as healthy and happily as they can with the time they have left, let’s have the compassion to allow them to have it.
Stop treating Medical Marijuana Patients like second rate citizens and common criminals by forcing them to the dangerous black market for their medicine.
Risking incarceration to obtain the medicine you need is no way to be forced to live.
Support Medical Marijuana Now!
Nobody can deny the Medical effectiveness of Medical Marijuana.
Below is a small sampling of quotes and a list of just a few of the many Professional Medical Organizations Worldwide that attest to Medical Marijuana’s effectiveness and Support Legal Access to and Use of Medical Marijuana.
Along with the thirty U.S states that have already legalized medical marijuana.
Are they ALL wrong?
“[A] federal policy that prohibits physicians from alleviating suffering by prescribing marijuana for seriously ill patients is misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane.” — Dr. Jerome Kassirer, “Federal Foolishness and Marijuana,” editorial, New England Journal of Medicine, January 30, 1997
“[The AAFP accepts the use of medical marijuana] under medical supervision and control for specific medical indications.” — American Academy of Family Physicians, 1989, reaffirmed in 2001
“[We] recommend … allow[ing] [marijuana] prescription where medically appropriate.” — National Association for Public Health Policy, November 15, 1998
“Therefore be it resolved that the American Nurses Association will: — Support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic marijuana/cannabis under appropriate prescriber supervision.” — American Nurses Association, resolution, 2003
“The National Nurses Society on Addictions urges the federal government to remove marijuana from the Schedule I category immediately, and make it available for physicians to prescribe. NNSA urges the American Nurses’ Association and other health care professional organizations to support patient access to this medicine.” — National Nurses Society on Addictions, May 1, 1995
“[M]arijuana has an extremely wide acute margin of safety for use under medical supervision and cannot cause lethal reactions … [G]reater harm is caused by the legal consequences of its prohibition than possible risks of medicinal use.” — American Public Health Association, Resolution #9513, “Access to Therapeutic Marijuana/Cannabis,” 1995
“When appropriately prescribed and monitored, marijuana/cannabis can provide immeasurable benefits for the health and well-being of our patients … We support state and federal legislation not only to remove criminal penalties associated with medical marijuana, but further to exclude marijuana/cannabis from classification as a Schedule I drug.” — American Academy of HIV Medicine, letter to New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, November 11, 2003
International and National Organizations
AIDS Action Council
AIDS Treatment News
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Medical Student Association
American Nurses Association
American Preventive Medical Association
American Public Health Association
American Society of Addiction Medicine
Arthritis Research Campaign (United Kingdom)
Australian Medical Association (New South Wales) Limited
Australian National Task Force on Cannabis
Belgian Ministry of Health
British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology
British House of Lords Select Committee On Science and Technology (Second Report)
British Medical Association
Canadian AIDS Society
Canadian Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs
Dr. Dean Edell (surgeon and nationally syndicated radio host)
French Ministry of Health
Health Canada
Kaiser Permanente
Lymphoma Foundation of America
The Montel Williams MS Foundation
Multiple Sclerosis Society (Canada)
The Multiple Sclerosis Society (United Kingdom)
National Academy of Sciences Institute Of Medicine (IOM)
National Association for Public Health Policy
National Nurses Society on Addictions
Netherlands Ministry of Health
New England Journal of Medicine
New South Wales (Australia) Parliamentary Working Party on the Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes
Dr. Andrew Weil (nationally recognized professor of internal medicine and founder of the National Integrative Medicine Council)
State and Local Organizations
Alaska Nurses Association
Being Alive: People With HIV/AIDS Action Committee (San Diego, CA)
California Academy of Family Physicians
California Nurses Association
California Pharmacists Association
Colorado Nurses Association
Connecticut Nurses Association
Florida Governor’s Red Ribbon Panel on AIDS
Florida Medical Association
Hawaii Nurses Association
Illinois Nurses Association
Life Extension Foundation
Medical Society of the State of New York
Mississippi Nurses Association
New Jersey State Nurses Association
New Mexico Medical Society
New Mexico Nurses Association
New York County Medical Society
New York State Nurses Association
North Carolina Nurses Association
Rhode Island Medical Society
Rhode Island State Nurses Association
San Francisco Mayor’s Summit on AIDS and HIV
San Francisco Medical Society
Vermont Medical Marijuana Study Committee
Virginia Nurses Association
Whitman-Walker Clinic (Washington, DC)
Wisconsin Nurses Association
Additional AIDS Organizations
The following organizations are signatories to a February 17, 1999 letter to the US Department of Health petitioning the federal government to “make marijuana legally available … to people living with AIDS.”
AIDS Action Council
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
AIDS National Interfaith Network (Washington, DC)
AIDS Project Arizona
AIDS Project Los Angeles
Being Alive: People with HIV/AIDS Action Committee (San Diego, CA)
Boulder County AIDS Project (Boulder, CO)
Colorado AIDS Project
Center for AIDS Services (Oakland, CA)
Health Force: Women and Men Against AIDS (New York, NY)
Latino Commission on AIDS
Mobilization Against AIDS (San Francisco, CA)
Mothers Voices to End AIDS (New York, NY)
National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender Association
National Native American AIDS Prevention Center
Northwest AIDS Foundation
People of Color Against AIDS Network (Seattle, WA)
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Whitman-Walker Clinic (Washington, DC)
Other Health Organizations
The following organizations are signatories to a June 2001 letter to the US Department of Health petitioning the federal government to “allow people suffering from serious illnesses … to apply to the federal government for special permission to use marijuana to treat their symptoms.”
Addiction Treatment Alternatives
AIDS Treatment Initiatives (Atlanta, GA)
American Public Health Association
American Preventive Medical Association
Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights (San Francisco, CA)
California Legislative Council for Older Americans
California Nurses Association
California Pharmacists Association
Embrace Life (Santa Cruz, CA)
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Hawaii Nurses Association
Hepatitis C Action and Advisory Coalition
Life Extension Foundation
Maine AIDS Alliance
Minnesota Nurses Association
Mississippi Nurses Association
National Association of People with AIDS
National Association for Public Health Policy
National Women’s Health Network
Nebraska AIDS Project
New Mexico Nurses Association
New York City AIDS Housing Network
New York State Nurses Association Ohio Patient Network Okaloosa AIDS Support and Information Services (Fort Walton, FL)
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Oregon
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Virginia Nurses Association
Wisconsin Nurses Association
Health Organizations Supporting Medical Marijuana Research
International and National Organizations
American Cancer Society
American Medical Association
British Medical Journal
California Medical Association
California Society on Addiction Medicine
Congress of Nursing Practice
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Jamaican National Commission on Ganja
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop on the Medical Utility of Marijuana
Texas Medical Association
Vermont Medical Society
Wisconsin State Medical Society
We passed medical way back in 1998 in WA State. No need to get your undies in bunch Wisconsin ! The sky has not fallen. We have the best economy in the USA and Seattle has half the violent crime of Milwaukee. How far behind the times is Wisconsin? Or perhaps the state is simply too drunk to end this farcical charade and abominable failure known as reefer Prohibition? Wisconsin is a sad quandary.
We need to get the bill passed into law. I have MS and my wife has Crimes. This would help use both out. Also this needs to become mainstream. Front door of the office please.
Thanks to all that care for us,
Tim Reynolds. 55 year old man in a very broken body.
Why do big government Republicans like Walker hate feeedom so much? Legalize it!!
Let’s move Wisconsin FORWARD. Dump Walker and Vote Democrat in November!
In my opinion its already 2018, and i think cannabis should be legalized in most of the country right now. Not only for giving them what they want but the cannabis help us in our daily routine. No wonder why many people allow marijuana to be legalized. And as i read here https://www.worldwide-marijuana-seeds.com/blogs/marijuana-news/what-is-the-biggest-threat-to-the-marijuana-industry that most of the country used marijuana in medical purpose, they also used CBD oil and they used it as an ingredients to the food. So why marijuana cant be legalized?
If Weed, Inc. would give Walker and his cabal a half mil “contribution,” cannabis would’ve been legalized in WI yesterday.
Every state surrounding Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and now even Iowa as well as all of Canada has a medical cannabis program, some 35 states have either medical or fully legal adult use markets, everybody except Wisconsin, despite the fact that over 60% of Wisconsinites support full legalization and 90% support medical. Why is that? There is only one reason and one reason alone. REPUBLICANS. Anyone who has been paying attention over the years knows that Republicans have blocked each and every attempt to legalize cannabis. Vukmir and Kleefisch wouldn’t even let the Democrat’s bills out of committee! That’s right. Walker and Republicans hate Democrat’s so much they let their partisan hatred stop people from getting the safe, effective medicine they need, oftentimes to survive. There is a reason so many people are fleeing Walker’s crazy right-wing version of Wisconsin. We must vote Walker and all Republicans out of office in November. Once we finally get them out of office, we can finally move Wisconsin forward on this issue and many, many others. It’s simple, once Walker and Repuicans are out, cannabis is in. Get out and vote DEMOCRAT Wisconsin and let’s LEGALIZE IT!!
More adults in the US than ever are using cannabis in some form- here’s my source https://www.seedsupreme.com/blog/more-americans-using-cannabis/ yet still no availability here. Feels like a lot more fighting to do yet.