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.
MADISON: When the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act failed to pass, it meant that Wisconsin patients would have to continue their long wait for a state medical marijuana program. The JRMMA would would have created a state registry program like those in place in most medical marijuana states including Colorado, Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska and others.
But, recently revealed loopholes in the Oregon and Montana medical marijuana programs allow out of state residents, including Wisconsinites, to obtain state medical marijuana cards.
While the card does not explicitly apply in Wisconsin, prior cases suggest it may offer a level of protection for state patients that they would not otherwise have.
Steve Elliott, in an article for News Junkie Post, “Two Medical Pot States Don’t Require Residency” discusses the Montana loophole:
