Democrats in Wisconsin Want to Legalize Medical Marijuana

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Democrats in Dane County are on a mission to get medical marijuana legalized in Wisconsin. State Senator Jon Erpenbach and Representative Chris Taylor are touring the state to raise awareness about medical marijuana. The local ABC news affiliate reported the story on Wednesday.

Erpenbach and Taylor introduced a bill that would permit patients with debilitating conditions and certain illnesses to have medical marijuana with approval from their physician. The bill was presented in February, but it has been held up in bureaucracy red tape ever since.

Sen. Erpenbach told officials that the state’s legislature shouldn’t block patients from getting their medication, saying “We’ve heard situations over and over again where people have put themselves in danger in order to go out and get what they feel is their medicine. And like I said earlier, the legislature should not be in the way of this. They shouldn’t be putting Wisconsinites in harm’s way.”

Supporters of the bill also voiced their opinions. Trevor Sand is paralyzed and says that he prefers marijuana over pharmaceuticals that don’t help. Pharmaceuticals, he says, also have bad side effects. “I was on over 40 medications, I was just a zombie. Nothing was helping.” He said that after consuming cannabis, his spasms stopped almost immediately.

National polls indicate that 90 percent of the country think that medical marijuana should be legalized. Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker is against legalizing medical marijuana, despite taking a donation from cannabis activists. The unpopular governor accepted a $25,000 donation in February. Scot Ross from One Wisconsin Now told journalists at a press conference that the money came from the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Sen. Erpenbach and other lawmakers are encouraging constituents to call their representatives to a request public hearing to voice their support in legalizing medical marijuana.

credit:themaven.net