January 11,2019, Wisconsin Medical Society Medigram 

A recent health policy panel event in Madison including legislators, an attorney expert and a leading addiction medicine physician raised the possibility that some kind of marijuana-related legislation could advance in the State Capitol during the 2019-2020 biennium.   

Longtime Society leader and addiction medicine expert Michael Miller, MD, DFASAM, DLFAPA, participated in the Wisconsin Health Newsnewsmakers panel this week on the future of marijuana and CBD in Wisconsin. Others on the panel included State Sen. Pat Testin, R-Stevens Point, State Assembly Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, and Legislative Council Senior Staff Attorney Michael Queensland. The panel met on Monday; WisconsinEye has coverage of the event here.

Both Sen. Testin and Rep. Taylor shared anecdotes of constituents and family members who had various maladies reportedly helped by marijuana use, which has broadened the legislature’s desires to explore changes to Wisconsin’s laws. Doctor Miller shared the latest science regarding what is both known and unknown about the effects marijuana and its components may have on the human body. He cautioned against the legislature wading into the issue of determining what is effective medicine—as some states have done in creating “medical” marijuana systems. As an alternative, Dr. Miller pointed out that the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana has wider support among organized medicine.