MADISON: A River Falls alderman who has been coordinating a campaign to gather enough signatures to place a medical marijuana advisory referendum before City voters this Nov. 2 reports they have enough signatures to make the ballot.
Bob Hughes says supporters filed 99 pages containing a total of 892 signatures with the city clerk’s office. A minimum of 665 good signatures are required to place the referendum on the ballot.
As with Dane County, where a Nov. 2 medical cannabis referendum was unanimously approved by the County Board July 15, the question will be the same:
“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?”
For more info: Dane County Medical Marijuana Referendum: www.jrmma.org. 06/24/10: Gary Storck OPED: Isthmus: Rejection of Wisconsin medical marijuana bill was a profile in cowardice. This Oct. 1-3, 2010: Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. Madison NORML Examiner: Jacki Rickert MMJ Act 2010 runs out of time in Wisconsin Legislature. For additional details on medical cannabis and Wisconsin visit JRMMA.org, IMMLY.org, Wisconsin NORML or MadisonNORML.org. Visit my Madison NORML Examiner articles archive. Photos courtesy of Madison NORML/IMMLY and friends. All rights reserved. Madison NORML Examiner is dedicated to the memory of our sister and hero Mary Powers (1949-2009).
MADISON: Law enforcement and news sources have linked last weeks 200-officer raid on more than ten marijuana grows on public lands in NE Wisconsin to Mexican drug cartels. Meanwhile, before the dust from what TIME called a “pot megafarm” had settled, another national forest grow was located. Marinette County Sheriffs reported deputies found more than 3,000 plants on another grow on Aug. 17.
In Mexico, with over 28,000 already dead in cartel related violence triggered by drug prohibition, President Felipe Calderon has now proposed a debate on the legalization of drugs. Calderon’s predecessor, Vicente Fox, declared that since prohibition strategies had failed, Mexico should consider legalizing “the production, sale and distribution of drugs.”
It was President Richard Nixon who really launched the war on marijuana, rejecting a report by his own handpicked commission that urged that the sale and possession of small amounts of cannabis be decriminalized.
While the Shafer Commission’s findings were rejected by Nixon, they led to decriminalization laws in a number of US states, and attempts to pass legislation in many more, including Wisconsin.
MADISON: A year ago, it seemed like nothing could stop Wisconsin from being the next medical marijuana state. A state of the art bill was being written. The bill had the support of the Governor and powerful leaders in both houses.
Despite all this, a lack of political courage and political will left the JRMMA in the legislative dustbin once again, crushing the hope that had been given back to long suffering state patients and families.
Below is a list of 10 things that would be different in Wisconsin had the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (AB554/SB368) passed this session.
One: Jacki Rickert and thousands of WI patients would have their medicine
Jacki Rickert, namesake of the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, would finally get a big YES to the question she has been asking for so many years, “Is My Nedicine Legal YET?”. Jacki, who was approved for federal medical marijuana supplies in Dec. 1990 but never supplied, was counting on state lawmakers to make good on a lifetime of broken promises from everyone from Bill Clinton on down. Not only Jacki, but thousands and thousands of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable, most hurting citizens would finally have safe and legal access to cannabis. Many would be getting it for the first time because they could not or would not access the cannabis black market. The people affected, seniors, veterans, disabled people, terminally ill, chronically ill, all have families and friends would all feel better knowing their friends and loved ones burdens and struggles had been eased.
MADISON: While marijuana law reform is long overdue in Wisconsin, it is heartening to see more and more candidates willing to take on so-called “third-rail” issues like drug policy reform. One such candidate is Jay Selthofner, who is running for the Wisconsin State Assembly in District 41 as an Independent candidate. The seat is currently held by Rep. Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan).
I first met Mr. Selthofner last fall as the campaign to pass the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act was first ramping up, in the weeks before the press conference announcing the launch of the bill. We worked together on the medical cannabis issue both at the Capitol and outside, and he became an integral part of state efforts, focusing on fieldwork and outreach. Selthofner developed the Talking Hemp and Cannabis Tour beginning with Berlin and moving forward. His organizational skills were demonstrated with the Wal-Mart/JRMMA rallies, a high water mark in modern day cannabis activism, with dozens of events happening all over the state on one day.
While the JRMMA failed to pass, running for state legislature seems like a logical next step for Selthofner. Madison NORML Examiner asked him a few questions about his candidacy and how he got there.
