Informational hearing on Medical
Marijuana: April 10, 2001
The State Affairs Committee
of the Wisconsin State Assembly, chaired by Rep. Rick Skindrud (R-Mt.
Horeb), held an Informational hearing on Medical Marijuana
on Tuesday April 10 at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison
The committee invited guests to present testimony regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Testimony
was limited to invited guests only.
Among those testifying was IMMLY Founder Jacki Rickert. Jacki led off
the hearing discussing her experiences and how medicinal cannabis has benefited
her and helped her regain a little quality of life. [Unofficial
transcript of the testimony of Jacki Rickert]
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"I am begging you ladies and gentlemen to be open-minded. Just think about it. Tomorrow it could be you, your children, your parents, you never know. You could get a disease, a syndrome, you could get hit by a car, anything. And when it happens you hope there is something out there that's going to help you." |
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-- IMMLY
Founder Jacki Rickert |
Jacki was followed by Dr. Michael
Miller, representing the State Medical
Society. You can read a
transcript of his testimony here: [Unofficial transcript of the testimony of
Dr. Michael M. Miller]. Richard Cowan has some great comments on Dr.
Miller's testimony on the link to his 4:20 Marijuana News below. Other
testimony was heard from Gina Dennik-Champion, Executive Director of the
Wisconsin Nurses
Association, testifying in favor, The WNA adopted a reference
October 29, 1999 supporting legal access to therapeutic cannabis. Dane
County Sheriff Gary Hamblin, a prostate cancer survivor, followed, and
Rep. Frank Boyle (D-Superior), a lung cancer survivor, who co-sponsored
Wisconsin medicinal cannabis legislation in 1997, and is considering
introducing a bill this session closed out the testimony. Additional
transcripts or portions thereof will be added as time permits.
Below are links to some news
articles about the hearing. The AP article also appeared in a number of
papers not listed below.
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