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For
immediate release: Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014
For more
information, contact Gary Storck: 608-241-8922 gstorck@immly.org
IMMLY
FOUNDER JACKI RICKERT RECEIVES DEFENDER OF LIBERTY AWARD
Madison:
Is My Medicine Legal YET? (IMMLY) Founder and Wisconsin medical cannabis
act namesake Jacki Rickert received Wisconsin/Madison NORML's Ben Masel Defender
of Liberty award Sunday afternoon at the 44th Annual Great Midwest
Marijuana Harvest Festival on the State St. steps of the Wisconsin State
Capitol.
Rickert,
who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and other conditions, has been a
tireless advocate for legal access to medical cannabis in Wisconsin for
many years. In Sept. 1997, she led a 210-mile wheelchair "Journey
for Justice" from her home in Mondovi to the State Capitol in
Madison to launch medical cannabis legislation, In Dec. 1990, she was
approved for federal medical cannabis supplies through the federal
Compassionate IND program, but never received her medicine despite
approvals from federal agencies
In brief
acceptance remarks on a cold and windy overcast day, Jacki said,
"Did you ever think, It does affect all of us. We are all in this
together. It could be you, a child, a parent, your next door
neighbor." She noted how illness or injury can strike anyone at
anytime, citing the award namesake Ben Masel, who passed away in 2011
and previous award winners, the late Ed Thompson (2011), and the late
defense attorney Bryon Walker (2013).
Wisconsin's
proposed medical cannabis legislation has carried Jacki Rickert's name
dating back to the 2007 session, when during a press conference, bill
cosponsor, then-Rep. Frank Boyle proclaimed, "This bill shall
forever be known as the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act"
(JRMMA). In the 2013-14 session the title was slightly tweaked to the
Jacki Rickert Medical Cannabis Act (JRMCA) by bill sponsor Rep. Chris
Taylor (D-Madison), to reflect the scientific name for marijuana. Rep.
Taylor also spoke at Harvest Fest directly after Jacki received the
award, frequently mentioning her and the bill that bears her name
Is My
Medicine Legal YET? is a also a member of the League of Marijuana Voters
(www.wislegalize.org), the Wisconsin grass roots group that recently put
a medical cannabis billboard on eastbound I-94 at 121st St. in
Milwaukee, calling out State Senators Leah Vukmir and Mary Lazich for
blocking the passage of the JRMCA.
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