The name behind Wisconsin's Medical Marijuana Legislation: Who is Jacki Rickert? Part One

Jacki Rickert in Washington D.C. 2001

MADISON: Many people in Wisconsin are aware there is medical marijuana legislation now before the State Legislature. AB554/SB368, the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act (JRMMA) is sponsored by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee).

But just who is Jacki Rickert?

Jacki Rickert is a 58 year old Wisconsin grandmother and medical cannabis patient/activist and the Founder and Executive Director of Is My Medicine Legal YET? (IMMLY). Jacki discovered that cannabis provided unique relief for symptoms of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) she is afflicted with. EDS is a rare genetic disorder that attacks the body’s connective tissues. Jacki also suffers from another extremely painful condition, Advanced Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

Jacki first began experiencing EDS symptoms like joint dislocations as an active teenager involved in gymnastics and training horses. Around 1981 Jacki met Dr. William E. Wright of Mondovi Wisconsin, a compassionate and courageous physician who diligently searched for treatments to alleviate her suffering. After Jacki asked if he would consider cannabis therapy, Dr. Wright consulted experts and immersed himself in the available literature. He concluded that it not only helped but was safer than "anything she was on including baby aspirin".

Jacki in San Francisco 2005

In 2001, Jacki described how she discovered cannabis helped:

As a result of having a chronic, intractable medical condition (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) that causes severe pain, joints that sublux, or dislocate, loss of muscle mass etc., someone suggested I try marijuana (Cannabis) to help lessen the pain, and muscle spasms.

At first, I dismissed such a thought- but later- when I could no longer handle the pain from a dislocated shoulder that the Dr. could not reduce, I tried it - this time it worked!

In 1989, Dr. Wright began filing paperwork with the requisite federal agencies to get Jacki into the federal government's Compassionate Investigative New Drug (IND) Program. Although federal red tape made the process very difficult literally every step of the way, Dr. Wright's persistence and heroic determination to help his patient finally paid off. In 1990 Jacki was approved for not only research but also compassionate use of medical cannabis by federal authorities. She was to receive 300 pre-rolled U.S. government supplied medical cannabis cigarettes every 28-30 days, each weighing 0.9 gram .

Jacki explained it in a 2001 email:

Years later, I was diagnosed with an advanced form of RSD. My weight plummeted to a mere 68 lbs. My body wracked with more problems, more pain, and massive muscle loss. My daughter literally carried me from my bed to the bathroom. No matter how much I tried, my limbs locked up like the tin man without his oil can. 

Jacki with Rep., AG & Lt. Gov. in 2005

At 68 lbs. my Physician applied to the Government for the Compassionate I.N.D. & Research I.N.D program, and WAS approved and granted a Schedule I License. He was APPROVED in Dec. of 1990...yet the contract was never honored.

The First Bush Administration later suspended and then closed the program, but Jacki had already been approved. Federal bureaucrats told Jacki her prescription would be filled once they had additional supplies, "as they were in the process of growing more material." A federal employee later confessed to Jacki, "I must tell you the truth about your medicine: We are not out, nor were we out, nor do I see us running out anytime in the foreeable future":

Jacki and her daughter even appealed to Bill Clinton as he and Al Gore made a campaign stop in Osseo Wisconsin in 1992. Jacki handed Clinton a large folder of federal approval documents which he vowed to read, "as soon as I get on that bus". More importantly, Clinton also told her as to her medicine nor being supplied, "Why that;s just terrible! If elected, I'll make sure within the first 90 days after taking office that's made right."

His HHS Secretary-designate UW Chancellor Donna Shalala promised before leaving Madison to help Jacki get her medicine. Once in Washington, Shalala flip-flopped against medical cannabis. Attempts by Jacki's Republican U.S. Congressman Steve Gunderson were also rebuffed. In 1993, tragedy struck when Dr. Wright suddenly died of a heart attack, and Jacki was back to square one in her quest for her medicine.

For more info: List of qualifying medical conditions included in the JRMMA. Jacki Rickert MMJ Act Hearing Recap & Action Alert. Report on Jan. 20 Mary Powers Memorial and JRMMA Lobby Day. For additional details on the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, info on the Dec. 15, 2010 combined Health committee hearing, bill text and status, how to donate, all the latest news and how you can help, visit JRMMA.org, IMMLY.org or MadisonNORML.org. Visit my Madison NORML Examiner articles archive. Photos courtesy IMMLY/WI NORML and friends.