Second Annual Vigil for Victims of Medical Marijuana Prohibition at Capitol Monday 6/7
MADISON: Mary Powers was one of those speaking at the First Annual Vigil for Victims of Medical Marijuana Prohibition on Sunday June 7, 2009 at the State Street entrance of the Wisconsin State Capitol here in Madison. The vigil was organized by the Madison chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Is My Medicine Legal YET? (IMMLY).
Powers, an Army veteran and leader in the Wisconsin medical cannabis movement, died of cancer on Oct. 22, 2009, just 4 ½ months later. Mary, in her wheelchair, was a familiar figure at the Capitol. In the six months before her death, she and I visited over 80 different legislative offices talking to lawmakers and staff about the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, AB554/SB368, which was formally introduced about a month after her passing by Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee) and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison). Mary Powers’ state legislators, Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison), both cosponsored the JRMMA.
