Thursday, 17 March 2016

Late maneuvering in Senate blocks cannabidiol measure

By Jason Stein and Cary Spivak
A bill to help anguished parents get a child seizure treatment failed to get a vote amid a hastily adjourned Senate session, even though a majority of senators support the proposal.

Three top GOP senators blocked the bill, which would have made it easier to get a drug that is derived from marijuana and used to treat children who suffer from severe seizures and have few other medical options.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) stymied a floor vote on the legislation Tuesday by scheduling a hearing on the bill and then canceling it Wednesday. Bills can't be brought to the floor if a hearing is pending.

Fitzgerald, who indicated he would have voted for the bill himself, said he used the parliamentary rule to keep other GOP senators from having to vote against a bill that they support.

When Democrats tried to take a two-thirds vote to override that rule, Fitzgerald abruptly adjourned the Senate before the vote could be held. The action drew sharp criticism Wednesday from the bill's bipartisan supporters, including Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).

"They should use actual facts to explain why they are blocking the will and hope of parents statewide," Wanggaard said.

"That three senators stopped that bill — it's outrageous...," Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said.

The measure, AB 228, passed the Assembly last month, so approval by the Senate Tuesday would have sent it to Gov. Scott Walker.

Cannabis oil is a byproduct of marijuana that proponents say may reduce seizures in children who suffer from as many as 100 of them in a single day. Under normal circumstances, the oil won't make users high because it's extremely low in THC.

Legislators and Walker approved legislation in 2014 to allow families to obtain cannabidiol oil, known by the acronym CBD, in certain limited cases to treat a patient. But the conditions have proved so restrictive that families and physicians have been unable to make use of it.

The bill that failed to come to a vote Tuesday was aimed at expanding that access.

Fitzgerald said that three Republicans, Senate President Mary Lazich of New Berlin and Sens. Duey Stroebel of Cedarburg and Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa, had adamantly opposed the bill out of concerns it could lead to the legalization of marijuana in Wisconsin. The three had no comment Wednesday.

Amylynne Santiago Volker is among those who were disappointed Wednesday. Volker's son Nic, the subject of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel series, has suffered from crippling seizures.

"I think it's sad that it didn't get a vote," she said of the bill, which Volker doesn't believe went far enough.

Volker said families can buy CBD oil over the Internet from reputable sources but currently lack legal protections if they choose to do so.

CBD opponents worry the proposal might be used by Native American tribes to force the legalization of marijuana in federal court. The argument is similar to the one state tribes successfully used when they argued legalization of the lottery opened the door to tribal casinos.

But Timothy Purdon, a former U.S. attorney who represents several tribes including the Menominee, said he was skeptical of that argument.

Lance Boldrey, a Michigan attorney who has represented Walker on some tribal issues, said passage of the latest cannabidiol legislation would not have strengthened the tribes' arguments because the state already legalized cannabidiol in 2014. Current law includes so many restrictions that it remains virtually impossible to obtain the drug legally in Wisconsin.

"Easing the restrictions doesn't change the legal arguments the tribes have already made," said Boldrey, who also represents tribes.

Meanwhile, Chris McGeshick, chairman of the Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake) Community, said his tribe is pursuing plans to eventually grow cannabis to make cannabidiol that would be used for research.

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