Swimming upstream on medical marijuana bill

Despite a Supreme Court ruling taking away states' rights to legalize the medical use of marijuana, and a House vote this week refusing to protect medical users from federal prosecution, a bill is being prepared for introduction in the Wisconsin legislature to allow its use.

It will have at least one Republican vote, if it ever gets to the floor. State Rep. Gregg Underheim of Oshkosh is the lead sponsor of the bill. He introduced a similar bill last session but it died in committee.

In fairness, Underheim is not the only Republican willing to stick his neck out on the issue. Last session, 10 Democrats (no surprise there) and two other Republicans -- Terry Musser and Eugene Hahn -- signed on as Assembly co-sponsors.

Underheim, who had a small cancerous growth removed from his prostate in 2002, told the LaCrosse Tribune his own experience with cancer got him thinking about the possible medicinal benefits of marijuana. The drug can reduce nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy and stimulate the appetites of AIDS patients, among other benefits, said Underheim, who has headed the Assembly's Health Committee since 1995.

This isn't exactly breaking news, since Underheim had announced awhile back that he would reintroduce his bill. It bubbles up now because of recent action on the issue, which prompted USA Today to do a story about seven states where bills are in the works, including Wisconsin.

Underheim said he hopes to get a hearing and a floor vote this session, but admits passage is unlikely. Pushing it is swimming upstream in light of recent federal action, but this may be one of those issues which gradually wins favor over time and eventually passes in some future session. That's happened on any number of issues in the Wisconsin legislature, including -- believe it or not -- legalizing bingo.

Underheim's bill would let doctors “recommend rather than prescribe … advise rather than prescribe,” he said in a Capital Times interview, but access is the problem, “In other states you allow people to grow it themselves, and I was reluctant to take that step in Wisconsin. But if it's going to be available, we've got to create access for it."

The Wisconsin State Journal, which has decades of anti-drug credentials, editorialized last week in favor of the House amendment to protect patients from prosecution if their states have legalized medical use of marijuana, and urged Wisconsin's eight House members to support it.

But when the vote came, all four Wisconsin Republicans -- Mark Green, Tom Petri, Paul Ryan, and F. Jim Sensenbrenner -- voted no. The state's four Democrats -- Gwen Moore, Tammy Baldwin, David Obey and Ron Kind -- supported the amendment.