On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 19 at 12:30 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Picture it: St. Louis. Mid 1980's. A father and son. Father got drunk daily for some 35 years. Son drank 5PM - close, six nights a week, for 4 years. Father stopped drinking, and never again had a single drink. He knew that if he had a single drink, he would be right back to his old ways. Son stopped drinking regularly a couple of years later, but still had the occasional drink.
So, were they both alcoholics, addicted to alcohol. Some 25+ years later, I still have an occasional drink or two. Am I an alhoholic who is just fooling himself?
There are different types of personalities, as many posters have alluded. Some who smoke marijuana regularly do have trouble coping with life absent the THC escape. But, this is true with many substances. Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and even legal and lawfully prescribed medications help us get though life (think Prozac, Zoloft, Celexia, Ambien, Xanax, etc. etc.).
Consenting adults are free in this country to choose their crutch, as long as that choice doesn't infringe the rights of others or create in the user an undue societal risk. Marijuana does neither of these. It should be a choice. Certainly, there is no legitimate reason to withhold it as a medical treatment from those who it would benefit.
On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 18 at 6:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
One additional thought...
There is ABSOLUELY NO DOUBT in my mind (based on EXPERIENCE, not conjecture) that a TINY fraction of people who use marijuana ever get caught with it. I would guesstimate that number at MAYBE 1%. For argument's sake, I'll put it at 10% (though I'm sure that is VERY high). If those who get caught pay a $150 fine, we're not talking about big money.
If, on the other hand, it were legalized, regulated, and taxed, nearly 100% of users would be paying tax on the product.
So, with it unlawful, 1% - 10% are paying into government. With it lawful, 100% would be paying into government. Further, for every time that 10% gets caught, they have hundreds of times that they DON'T get caught.
Do the math. We are missing a HUGE revenue stream by not legalizing it. Further, if it were legal, American farmers would be making money from it rather than sending that money south of the border.
On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 18 at 6:33 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
In many, MANY juridictions in Wisconsin, posession of "personal amounts" of marijuana is nothing but a forfeiture. It's the equivalent of driving 26 in a 25, failing to shovel your sidewalk, or putting a "yard sale" sign in the terrace (between the sidewalk and street). Is it illegal? Yes. But, I would challenge ANYONE to let me follow them for a 24 hour period. I can virtually guarantee that I could find some forfeiture violation for nearly every man, woman, and child within 24 hours.
Has anyone heard of laetrile (also sometimes called vitamin B-17, or amygdalin)? It is a "drug" that has been promoted to cure cancer as well as to treat other ailments. It is illegal in the US. Yet, Americans can go to Mexico (the last I knew) for treatment and bring a certain amount back with them.
The same is true for other drugs as well. Yet, Americans are not forbidden from bringing quantities of those drugs in to the US for their own use, under prescription. I had an uncle who resorted to laetrile after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the 70's. He died from the disease, though he credited laetrile for a relatively peaceful end. Not sure I buy it, but I can't refute it either.
There are lots of "medicines" that are not recognized as such or allowed to be marketed, under FDA rules. If marijuana helps people deal with illness or avoid other, more dangerous drugs, then why insist on declaring it to not be medicine?
It's illegal. It's illegal! IT'S ILLEGAL!
Interracial marriage WAS illegal. Women voting WAS illegal. Alcohol WAS illegal. Same-sex physical relations WERE illegal. The list goes on and on. These things would all STILL be illegal if not for groups of Americans demanding change.
On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 18 at 10:13 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
creatureinthefreezer: First, I need to clarify my position because you started out your post of 6:24 PM 11/17/09 with "Wrong again pot smokers." I am not a pot smoker and would not smoke it even if it were made legal for recreational use by the federal government. I also am a very rare drinker. These are two substances that I simply have no interest in using. I did smoke marijuana a few times, more than twenty years ago, but have absolutely zero interest in it now.
California's AB 2279 was vetoed in September 2008. I'm not sure what leads you to think that veto came "Wednesday," as your post states. Was there a new AB 2279 that I haven't found?
The case that spurred AB 2279 was a decision by the California Supreme Court. It dealt with a California State Law. That California Law would not be subect to review by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Differing Courts often have different views on their state's similar laws. The decision by California's SC has not been visited by the US SC, that I know of.
Someone earlier talked about "habits" versus "addictions." That post was very well put. Ask any regular coffee drinker what happens if they suddenly miss a day of coffee. The withdrawal headache is like no other pain I've ever experienced. Alcohol withdrawal is well documented. The list goes on. Yet, I have never talked with a regular toker who has experienced any physical withdrawal symptoms when they stop using it.
On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 17 at 10:10 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
As to getting fired for using marijuana medicinally...has anyone heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act? If your employer is aware that you have a medical condition for which marijuana is lawfully prescribed, then they will not be allowed to terminate your employment based on that fact. In order to terminate such an employee, the employer will have to provide resonable accommodation to the worker. That's not carte blanche, but the employer will have to show that the employee cannot perform the job safely, even with reasonable accommodation.
On Medical marijuana for Wisconsin?
Posted on November 16 at 3:55 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Congrats on getting responses, kid n kai. I sent a personal letter to Rep. Hixon, Sen. Robson, and a Senator who isn't even from my area. I got responses from all EXCEPT Sen. Robson. Granted, open government issues may not be as sexy as weed, but, still....
On DeVoy will get six month's pay and $30,000
Posted on November 12 at 5:04 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
So...
$ 30,000 severance
$ 30,500 for the next 6 months' pay
$ 35,000 for accrued benefits
$ 60,000 for the past 11 months of not working
$ 80,000 in Village attorney fees
Total:
$235,000 so far, not counting the remaining fees for Mr. Herrick, Mr. Hazelbaker, and Mr. Stanley.
I wonder, was the ouster of Chief DeVoy a good investment for Darien? Did the gang of four get their money's worth from the venture?
On Lake Geneva council infighting rages
Posted on November 10 at 4:49 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
"I've been put in a position where I have not a whole lot of choices left," Chesen said.
It seems to me that Mr. Chesen put himself - and the rest of the Council - in that position.
On Two-car crash yields 3 DUI busts
Posted on November 5 at 2:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
More problems? If I had a dollar for every person I arrested or cited for posession of marijuana......
What problems are you talking about? We spend millions of dollars per year running people through the courts and some period of incarceration for posessing something that is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco. I have seen ZERO reliable material saying that marijuana is worse than either of those two, yet marijuana is the one that costs taxpayers millions. As a cop, I would MUCH RATHER deal with people who are baked rather than people who are drunk! I've NEVER had a struggle with someone who was only baked. But I have undergone months of physical therapy for injury caused by a drunk.
Legalizing and taxing marijuana will free up thousands and thousands of jail cells that today house folks who simply posessed "personal amounts" of marijuana. In addition, the taxes generated by marijuana sales would go a LONG way toward paying for the health care reform our nation desparately needs. Further, having marijuana available at businesses will DRASTICALLY reduce the number of people who are arrested for trafficking it now in the black market, thus reducing the jail/prison populations even more.
Cops would have a lot more time to deal with crimes with victims, because we wouldn't be spending as much time on "victimless" posession of THC. Prosecutors would have more time to effectively prosecute those crimes with victims because they would have a much reduced workload of cases that they will simply plea down anyway. Courts could impose more substantial penalties on criminals who victimize others, because there would be more cells available.
So, exactly what problems do you foresee with legalized marijuana that we don't have today?
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On Influential Janesville teacher dies unexpectedly
Posted on November 21 at 8:44 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
As has been said by others, even routine medical procedures carry risks. Judging from his age, I can think of three procedures that are part of routine wellness exams. I, personally, know of people who have died during two of those "routine" procedures at one of the top 10 hospitals in the country (in another state). The only way to eliminate the risk is to not have the procedures anywhere, and run the risk of dying or suffering from the disease that they are meant to identify.
Peace and condolences to the family, friends, coworkers, and current and former students. Find strength in the great work and legacy of this outstanding man.